Qiwi, a Russia-based payment service provider, has set up a new company that will focus on developing blockchain and consultancy services, as reported by Kommersant.

Called ‘Qiwi Blockchain Technology’, the subsidiary will develop and implement blockchain solution and also provide consulting services to clients. Qiwi is reportedly investing nearly 100 million rubles in the new company for its 2017 operating expenses.

Director of Qiwi Alexei Arkhipov told Kommersant (as translated by CoinDesk):

"We are ready to make joint projects with external customers."

The announcement follows the company’s recent efforts to drive blockchain innovation in the country. QIWI joined the U.S.-based financial innovation firm R3’s blockchain consortium last year. Also, the company signed a mutual memorandum, expressing its intention to join a consortium formed by leading companies in the Russian financial sector to explore and implement blockchain technology and its derivatives.

In additon, the Central Bank of Russia, along with the market participants, last year developed a technical prototype called ‘Masterchain’ for financial messaging, based on the distributed ledger technology (DLT). QIWI, along with other major financial institutions were involved in developing the platform.

Arkhipov said that the newly-formed entity is already working with three companies on blockchain solutions. However, the names of the companies have not been disclosed yet.