The Bank of Russia reports Russian people had 3.447 trillion RUR worth of cash on their hands on October 1, 2007; this amounts to about 6 billion banknotes and more than 33.7 billion coins.

37% of all available banknotes are 1,000-ruble bills, and they get forged most often. Every one in five bills is a 500-ruble one, and this is Russia’s second most popular banknote at the moment. Then, the 5,000-ruble bills are also gaining popularity. The Central Bank of Russia says 120 million banknotes have been printed already.

Russian mints mainly produce 1-kopeck and 5-kopeck coins; together, they make up 33% of all the coins in the country. Remarkably, their prime cost is higher than their face value.

'The Central Bank has repeatedly been asked to stop making these unprofitable coins, yet the need that exists for them in retail stores makes the bank reluctant to give up on them completely,’ Larisa Larionova of SKB-Bank says.