Russia’s Vnesheconombank has inked an agreement with e-procurement platform Roseltorg on a joint blockchain-based project.

The project aims to bring transparency in electronic transactions between businesses and government customers and develop new methods for storing and verifying the information to drive the transition toward the digital economy.

According to the project partners, a decentralised but protected blockchain-based system, serving as business and public services platform, would help enhance the interaction between government agencies and public authorities, enable faster decision taking, and drive a more efficient corporate governance and national government overall.

VEB plans to use this technology to facilitate aspects of its business such as investments, project monitoring, procurement, electronic contracting, e-contract fulfilment and tracing the supply and subcontractor chain.

“The blockchain technology used as corporate governance and national government tool will help to achieve zero human factor impact, so transactions will become accurate, transparent and sound. It will help to sensibly reduce the service timeframes, boost the operating efficiency and strengthen the people’s trust with respect to public authorities and financial institutions. The system will be useful not only to the government, but also to business customers. The new mechanism will help businesses interact with their clients and suppliers, improve the document exchange quality, enable stronger data confidentiality and underpin the customers’ confidence in the product suppliers”, noted Vnesheconombank Chairman Sergey Gorkov.

According to the official release, the first phase of the project will have been carried out by the end of 2017 or in early 2018.