The decision to replace paper passports with smart cards will be made before the end of this year, the Minister of Digital Development of the Russian Federation Maksut Shadayev announced on Wednesday.

Today there is a need to replace the usual passports with a modern document format, the minister said. The government body also plans a digital copy of a passport to be available on a smartphone as a QR code.

In March 2021, the Ministry of Digital Development proposed to start issuing e-passports in Moscow starting from December 1, 2021. Previously, the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Alexander Gorovoy announced plans to develop an application to an electronic passport in Moscow by the end of 2021.

Original (in Russian)