The Russian Prime Minister has shown his interest in the idea of applying blockchain into gas supply contracts, provided by Russian Gas Giant Gazprom.

According to the Russian finance news Vestifinance, Alexey Miller – head of the largest supplier of gas to Europe Gazprom – has held a meeting with Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev to propose the idea of implementing distributed ledger technology (DLT) into the registry system.

Gazprom has been working with Gazprombank to create a prototype performing as a blockchain-based technology platform. The model will make it possible for contracts to be done automatically, Miller explained. Moreover, the prototype will allow automatic gas payments calculation as well as a security improvement. All participants in a certain contract can get access to the gas data shared on this platform.

In the first phase, Gazprom will exclusively reach out to large industrial consumers for testing the platform.

The project has gained approval from Prime Minister Medvedev as he expressed: “What you mentioned, of course, is currently a very significant factor in the development of Russian industry – the creation of Russian analogues or samples that are superior to foreign analogs, the use of modern digital technologies.”  Medvedev stated that blockchain would benefit the Russian gas industry and offered to share the experience with other market members.

He also mentioned that the new platform of Gazprom would represent the specific application of blockchain in the industry. Much as blockchain implementation is widely known, it is not often understood, the minister further noted.

In February, Gazprom Neft, which is owned by Gazprom, also introduced a blockchain technology platform used in supply chain management.