Participants in the Russian Eastern Economic Forum signed some 194 investment agreements in the amount of 2.4 trillion rubles, or USD44 billion, according to the Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East Alexander Galushka.

“Last year we had 1.8 trillion rubles in deals made. This year’s result is already 600 billion rubles over, and it is not the end yet,” the Minister said on September 7, 2017 before the forum concluded.

Minister Galushka said that this year the number of the countries participating in the forum has increased two times.

While last year there were only thirty countries, this year, the forum featured delegates from 61 different states. The leaders of Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia attended the event. China’s Deputy Prime Minister, as well as India’s Foreign Affairs Minister participated in the forum. The Governor of California Jerry Brown represented the United States at Vladivostok.

Russia to create crypto-currency regulation

The Russian Ministry of Finance intends to make the black-market of cryptocurrency trading to be transparent and organized, such that natural persons could purchase cryptocurrencies in much the same manner as they are able to buy bonds.

“We suggest that cryptocurrencies be purchased in a way similar to the purchase of securities by natural persons. Certainly, the so-called black market of cryptocurrencies is active today. We have to turn the black market into an organized market,” Minister Anton Siluanov said on September 8, 2017.

As more and more countries open their markets to cryptocurrencies, authorities in Russia are coming to realize the need to regulate the blockchain payment systems phenomenon. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov called for creating the “crypto-ruble” in August. Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Oleg Fomichev responded that the Ministry will work on the idea of the crypto-ruble.

Not everyone in the Russian government shares Minister Siluanov’s view to allow ordinary individuals to buy cryptocurrency. Deputy Minister of Finance Alexey Moiseyev in August said that cryptocurrency should be regulated as a financial asset and that its purchases should be available only to qualified investors on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

Separately, Russia may ban bitcoin mining in flats and apartments. The process is considered to be unsafe because significant electric power usage presents fire hazards.