Russian government has been forging ahead in its efforts to criminalize the use of bitcoins in the country. Recently it was reported that the government is seeking to raise fines for companies involved in the cryptocurrency mining or exchange and has prepared amendments to the law "On the Central Bank".

According to a latest report from RIA Novosti, Russian Deputy Minister of Finance has confirmed that the draft law criminalizing circulation of bitcoin in Russia will be passed to the State Duma during the current session, as reported by Coinfox.

“I hope we will manage to do this in a reasonably short period of time. I believe, we will be able to bring it in before the end of the spring session, but I don’t know if it will be passed in a first reading,” Coinfox translated Deputy Minister of Finance Alexey Moiseev’s statement.

The official stated that the law will primarily focus on exchange operations between virtual currencies and the ruble, which will be classified among other illegal currency operations.

Moiseev also confirmed the proposed penalty for top managers of financial institutions for a period of up to 7 years of imprisonment for the violation of the Act.

“Because things like these are very difficult to carry out on a large scale without aid from banks’ senior executives. After all, the banking system is the principal element and the front line in our fight against terrorism laundering,” Moiseev added.

Earlier reports suggest that according to the draft law, top managers of financial institutions could face up to 7 years of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years or a fine of 1 million rubles to 2.5 million rubles or the salary or other income for a period of 2 to 4 years.