Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom could soon begin using blockchain to execute and monitor business contracts. The firm’s CEO, Alexey Miller, announced the news at a meeting with Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev. Gazprom have developed a prototype of a technological platform to automate the process of concluding, monitoring and executing contracts. This system also provides for automated arbitrage and calculation of payments for gas.

The prime minister was positive in his response, saying that blockchain technology has a “promising” future in the Russian economy, as well as in the activities of companies like Gazprom. At the same time, subsidiaries Gazpromneft-Aero and Gazprom Neft implement blockchain technology for their business.