Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has given the go-ahead for two state ministries to research the use of Blockchain technology in government.
Quoted by the local news resource Lenta and others, the country’s second in command said it was necessary to “study to what extent it would be applicable to our system of government.”
The organizations involved in the research, which forms part of the wider “Digital Economy” project, are Minkomsvyaz, the communications ministry and the ministry of economic growth Minekonomrazvitie.
“In any case, this is obviously a new and popular topic; I’ve signaled to the relevant ministries [...] to observe the possibility of implementing the technology as part of preparations of the Digital Economy project,” Medvedev continued.
The comments are the latest in a recent series of pro-Blockchain episodes involving Russia’s top banks and the central bank itself.
Sberbank chief Herman Gref said in February he foresaw commercial Blockchain implementation in Russia by 2019, while Vnesheconombank Vice President Nikita Smirnov likened Bitcoin itself to “positive bacteria.”
At the start of the year, the central bank deputy Olga Skorobogatova indicated regulators would not attempt to ban Bitcoin in the future, instead adopting an observational approach with an eyeing to developing suitable regulation.