Russia Says Raiffeisen Bank And Gazprom Partner to Issue Bank Guarantee on Blockchain

Kommersant, a Russian business newspaper reported that a subsidiary of Raiffeisen bank international has collaborated with Gazprom Neft, a major local state-owned oil company.

According to Kommersant, the bank guarantee was provided to conduct a trade finance transaction involving four groups Raiffeisen, Gazprom Neft, Belarusian firm Mozyr Oil Refinery, Priorbank of Belarus. Raiffeisen came in as an advising bank for the oil company while Priorbank of Belarus which is part of Raiffeisen bank group issued a bank guarantee for the deal through blockchain.

The system used was developed by Raiffeisen on the basis of the bank’s blockchain platform R-chain which it released last year. Tatyana Ivashkova, head of documentary transactions and trade finance at Raiffeisen Russia stated that:

“Four nodes participated in the transaction, that is, all parties were fully connected to the platform.”

Generally, the banks would release a guarantee through their internal system, notifying the client only after the fact. However, using blockchain allows all members to be able to have access to the documents and allowing the deal to be finalized as soon as the payment comes through, reducing the processing period.

Raiffeisen has already tried out blockchain before, issuing an electronic mortgage using Masterchain, a Russian interbank platform created by big market players transfer valuable data through the decentralized network. The bank also reveals its intentions to connect Rosreerstr, the Russian state agency that collects data on real estate to streamline digital mortgage issuance.

Also, a group of major global oil companies has declared the release of a blockchain-led platform for energy commodity trading. The decentralized system also includes banks like ABN Amro, ING, and Societe Generale, alongside big trading houses which will officially begin working by the end of November in the North Sea oil market.