5 Roubles - Foreign Exchange Certificate

Vnesheconombank's Foreign Exchange Certificates — known informally as "checks" or "сертификаты" — were introduced to capture hard currency flowing into the Soviet Union from abroad while preventing it from circulating freely. The 1989 series was among the last issued before the system's collapse; by 1991, with the USSR disintegrating, these instruments became effectively worthless for their intended purpose, though they briefly traded on informal markets at sharp discounts.

Distinct from the better-known Vneshtorgbank "березка" checks of earlier decades, the Vnesheconombank certificates represented a late-stage attempt to modernize hard currency management. The 1989 issue was never redeemable at face value in any practical sense after the Soviet banking system restructured.