The head of Russian oil company Rosneft has not ruled out the possibility of paying for oil using cryptocurrencies in the future, according to a report by Snob.ru on June 6. Igor Sechin said the industry’s acceptance and awareness of digital assets is beginning to rise as Silicon Valley tech giants including Google, Amazon and Apple begin to explore the oil and gas sector. While he suggested that the stablecoin Facebook is currently developing could one day be used to purchase oil by the barrel, Sechin warned there are some hurdles that cryptocurrencies need to overcome if they are to …

Russia’s third-largest food retail firm, Dixy, has implemented blockchain technology in its corporate finance system, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on June 5. The Moscow-based retailer has deployed blockchain in cooperation between suppliers and factoring firms, which represent third parties that purchase businesses’ invoices at a discount in order to help those businesses to raise funds. Specifically, following a successful pilot test, Dixy is now moving the interactions between suppliers and factoring companies to an Ethereum (ETH) blockchain-powered open trade finance platform called Factorin. The Factorin platform provides suppliers with a factoring management tool that can be …

Belarus’ general prosecutor has raised concerns about the role cryptocurrency could be playing in tax evasion, local daily news outlet TUT.by reported on June 4. Speaking as Belarus hosted the International Prosecutors Association’s regional conference, Aleksandr Konyuk said the time had come for all attendants’ authorities to study cryptocurrency use. Belarus had become one of the first countries in the area to create formal legislation around bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, declaring them legal in 2017. “The relevance of cybercrime is obvious,” he told the conference, which saw representation from Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Kazakhstan and Latvia. Konyuk continued: “Multiple …

A judge at Russia’s Supreme Arbitration Court has argued that the term digital assets should be included in the Russian Civil Law, local state-backed media agency Federal Press reports on June 4. Lyudmila Novoselova, chairman at the Court for Intellectual Rights of Russian Federation and a judge at the Supreme Arbitration Court, has introduced the institution’s plans for the development of legislation for digital rights. The official delivered her testimony at the first retreat of the presidential council in Ekaterinburg devoted to civil law. Novoselova expressed confidence that the Russian Civil Code should include the notion of digital money, pointing …

Raiffeisenbank, a Russian subsidiary of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), has developed a corporate blockchain platform, the bank announced in a press release on May 31. Targeting holding firms, the new blockchain platform claims to automate settlements by corporate clients and enable a trusted network for sharing data between a group of companies, the press release notes. Specifically, the product reportedly automates the process of supply settlements between buyers and suppliers, as well as providing tools for financial management. While the product was reportedly developed by Raiffeisenbank at the request of major local sleep products manufacturer Askona Life Group, the …

Russia's largest bank, the state-owned Sberbank, has suspended its crypto-related plans due to the central bank’s negative stance on the industry, local news agency TASS reports on May 30. Sberbank vice president Andrey Shemetov has reportedly revealed the news at a recent press conference, claiming that Sberbank had been awaiting crypto legislation that would allow it to trade cryptocurrencies. However, Shemetov stressed that the local financial regulator and the central bank, the Bank of Russia, is against the adoption of the crypto space at the moment. As such, the bank had to halt its plans relating to cryptocurrencies. In the …

Police in Russia have arrested an alleged creator of a crypto pyramid scheme from Kazakhstan who was facing an international arrest warrant, Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOI) officially reported on May 28. The unnamed detainee is reportedly accused of defrauding investors using a scam crypto scheme promising high returns from crypto investments, involving a group of criminals. The MOI reported at least 300 fraud cases allegedly connected with the pyramid scheme, with one of the investors having reportedly lost around 14 million Kazakhstan tenge ($36,700) to the criminals. According to the report, the intruder fled Kazakhstan in early 2019 …

The Russian state of Nizhny Novgorod is testing the use of the blockchain-based application “City N” for public administration tasks, according to a report by ForkLog on May 28. State residents will reportedly be able to file their taxes on the blockchain-based Vostok platform using the City N application. Other services of the application include the ability to verify the identity of Nizhny Novgorod residents, as well as being able to track expenditures residents have paid to the states budget via the online portal of public services Gosuslugi. Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Gleb Nikitin, commented on the transparency …

Russian state-owned holding conglomerate Rostec proposed a roadmap on applying blockchain in all the governmental data systems, local financial newspaper Kommersant reports on May 24. An institution under Rostec has reportedly developed a blockchain roadmap worth up to 85 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) that claims to provide an economic impact of up to 1.6 trillion rubles ($25.4 billion) in five years. The project was presented by Rostec’s structural body, the Novosibirsk Institute of Programming Systems (NIPS), during a blockchain conference held in the Republic of Tatarstan on May 23. According to Kommersant, the NIPS’ roadmap includes a blockchain implementation in …

Russia’s central bank, the Bank of Russia, will consider issuing a gold-backed cryptocurrency, Russian news agency TASS reports May 23. Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Bank of Russia, revealed that the bank may be interested in creating a gold-pegged crypto for conducting mutual settlements with global jurisdictions. However, Nabiullina claimed that she believes that it is more important to develop international settlements using national currencies. Speaking at a meeting of the State Duma, the bank’s governor cited a successful example of using national currencies in settlements under the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), noting that the development …

The central bank of Russia believes that the draft bill on crypto regulation is prepared enough to be adopted in the spring of 2019, local news agency TASS reports on May 22. Olga Skorobogatova, first deputy governor of the Russian central bank, has stated that the bank expects the crypto bill, “On Digital Financial Assets” (DFA), to be adopted during the spring session in 2019 in accordance with the order of the country’s president, Vladimir Putin. Speaking at a recent meeting of the Parliament, Skorobogatova argued that the DFA, as well as a draft law on crowdfunding and other crypto-related …

The director of Russia’s federal security service, the FSB, has warned that terror groups are increasingly being financed through cryptocurrencies, Russian news site RBK reported on May 21. FSB head Alexander Bortnikov said global terrorist organizations have been mastering the use of virtual currencies for some time, along with encrypted communication tools that enable them to evade security services. He added: “Electronic payment systems and cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by terrorists to move money received from some states and organizations that support the global terrorist network.” According to Bortnikov, terror groups are also raising funds through the slave trade …