Gas giant Gazprom embraces blockchain supply chain

Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom is going to use blockchain technology to track its gas supplies. According to the news agency Vestifinance, which is part of the Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR), the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller informed the Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev about the latest in the development of applications powered by distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Gazprom already has been working with Russia state-owned bank Gazprombank, and developed a prototype that enables automatic contracts using blockchain technology. The platform allows data to be shared between all participants of a certain contract. This would ease sharing of data, and also keep data more secure.

Currently the blockchain projects for Gazprom are aimed at an industrial level. Medvedev welcomed the initiative, praising it for it being an actual use-case of DLT. Gazprom is one of the biggest suppliers of oil towards Europe and the Northern parts of Asia.

Even though Russia is not on the forefront of the blockchain and crypto space, the country has been embracing the technology quite well. President Vladimir Putin called for a regulatory framework, which needs to be finished before June 2019. In February oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft tested blockchain technology in its logistical supply chain, while the same company partnered with a Russian subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International to issue a bank guarantee via blockchain.

Earlier this year there was a rumor that Russia was swapping its cash reserves (dollars) into bitcoin. This in order to avoid the impact of impending US sanctions on the country. The remarkable news came from academic Vladislav Ginko, but has never been confirmed by the country. One of Russia's most popular social websites, VKontakte, is thinking to issue their own cryptocurrency. These plans are not finalized yet.