Tatarstan used the status of a national autonomy in the Russian Federation and had the right to issue it's own banknotes in the years 1993-1998, when there was lack of financing from the federal government. These banknotes had no denomination marked (nor the currency unit), some were single-sided. They had no own exchange rate and were used as a local substitute for the russian rouble. Only food and some limited list of consumer goods could be purchased for these banknotes.