Russia's Gazprom looks to adopt blockchain for gas operations

Russian gas giant Gazprom is planning to incorporate blockchain technology to its operations, according to its blog. CEO Alexey Miller said Gazprom is "ready to start...the digitalization of the gas supply process and the implementation of the distributed ledger technology." This includes providing automated support for monitoring and executing gas-supply contracts as well as automated arbitrage and calculation of gas payments.

Miller discussed the topic with Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, following the company's work with the state-owned Gazprombank to do develop an automation platform. Miller also noted that, initially, "only major industrial consumers" will be exposed to the changes.

“The system is completely open to all members of the contracting process. It is fully protected from tampering and unauthorized changes," Miller commented. The prime minister applauded Gazprom’s plans, referring to blockchain as “an advanced and cutting-edge technology that has been heavily discussed but often misunderstood.”

Medvedev also believes other Russian companies could follow Gazprom’s adoption plans for "large pool[s] of consumers and standardized services with quality control, mutual obligations and, if necessary, accountability measures."