State policy for the development of blockchain in Russia

The main articles are:

• Blockchain
• Blockchain in Russia
• Blockchain technologies (Russian market)
• Blockchain in Russian banks

Blockchain is one of the end-to-end technologies of the digital economy

White Paper: Digital Economy End-to-End Technologies

Roadmap for the Development of Distributed Registry (Blockchain) Technologies

Main article: Roadmap for the development of distributed registry (blockchain) technologies

2024: Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation announced a project of digital LLCs on the blockchain

At the end of September 2024, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation presented a project of digital limited liability companies (LLC). The concept provides that the implementation of corporate agreements will be monitored using the infrastructure of decentralized registers - blockchain.

According to Interfax, Alexey Yakovlev, director of the financial policy department of the Ministry of Finance, told about the project. According to him, the platforms for taking into account the rights to shares in the LLC can be operators of information systems that issue digital financial assets (CFA). When creating a company according to the new rules, after registration of the LLC, a corporate contract will be concluded with further transfer to the form of a smart contract - this is a computer algorithm containing the terms of the contract and intended for automatic control and execution of contractual relations. Further accounting of rights and subsequent disposal of shares take place on the platform of the information system.

𝓲

Фото: Gabriel Trujillo/Adobe Stock

The new scheme, as Yakovlev notes, will provide a number of business benefits. In particular, it will be easier to obtain loans from banks secured by "digital" shares. If a digital LLC has all the rights and obligations of its participants fixed in a smart contract, transparency improves and the risk is minimized that the provisions of the corporate contract may theoretically not be fulfilled by the participants.

In turn, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said that blockchain technology could affect the business model of the financial sector. In particular, blockchain and so-called decentralized finances make it possible to exclude intermediaries in the financial market. According to Chebeskov, the Russian financial sector and its participants will be able to adapt to this technology and "in a good sense of the word make it part of the financial infrastructure."^[1]

2020: The Commission approved road maps for the development of the Internet of Things and blockchain

On December 10, 2020, it became known that the government commission for digital development approved the road maps for the development of things and blockchain developed by Rostec in the Russian Internet of Things and Blockchain. The state corporation estimated the implementation of projects at 22.4 billion and 10.1 billion rubles, respectively, including 17.4 billion and 5.6 billion rubles of financing from extrabudgetary sources. Read more here.

2017

Expert Council on Digital Economy and Blockchain Technologies created in the State Duma

On September 28, 2017, under the State Duma Committee on Economic Development, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship, the Expert Council on the Digital Economy and Blockchain Technologies was created. The advisory body is responsible for the legal, expert and information-advisory support of the activities of the Committee on the Development of the Digital Economy and the introduction of blockchain technologies. Read more here.

Rosstandart creates a technical committee for standardization of blockchain

On August 15, 2017, the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart) announced the formation of a new technical committee for standardization called "Software and Hardware of Distributed Register and Blockchain Technologies ." Read more here.

The Ministry of Communications is considering the possibility of using blockchain in shared construction

In July, it became known that the Ministry of Communications is considering the possibility of using blockchain technology in the work of Rosreestr. This was stated by the Minister of Communications and Mass Media of Russia Nikolai Nikiforov on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg.^[2]

According to the head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, in particular, a pilot project using blockchain is being considered, for example, when concluding transactions related to shared participation in construction.

"This is a completely real practice that we are preparing for launch," Nikiforov added.

Prime Minister Medvedev instructed to study the possibilities of blockchain for use in the digital economy

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in March 2017 instructed the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Economic Development to consider the possibility of using blockchain technology in the public administration system and the economy of the Russian Federation^[3]This must be done in the preparation of the Digital Economy program, which will be included in the government's comprehensive action plan in 2017-2025.

The order that I signed concerns the development of a smart economy. A separate section of the government's comprehensive action plan is devoted to this task. It is about creating the conditions for the introduction of various digital technologies as quickly as possible, and one of these breakthrough technologies is blockchain technology, the prime minister said at a meeting with deputy prime ministers.

Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting with Deputy Prime Ministers on March 6

Medvedev noted that large banks, corporations and some states already use this tool. He added that this technology is special and excludes the presence of intermediaries. The authenticity of the operations is confirmed by the network participants themselves, since there is no single storage of information, it is all divided into blocks, then it is impossible to rewrite this information without the knowledge of other persons or somehow infiltrate there, the head of the Cabinet said. He also added that blockchain could help "rid business turnover of unnecessary bureaucratization."

Medvedev said that it is necessary to analyze how applicable it is in the Russian system of public administration, the economy. To work on the plan, the Prime Minister believes, it is necessary to involve the Expert Council under the government, various scientific and public organizations, and the business community.

The prospects for the use of blockchain in the public sector were discussed a week earlier by the participants of the TAdviser IT Government Day conference. Deputy Prime Minister of the Moscow Region - Minister of Public Administration, IT and Communications Maksut Shadayev, speaking about his region, noted that the topic of using blockchain is not on the agenda.

Blockchain is a little more difficult exercises for us so far, - said Shadayev.

According to Shadayev, residents of the Moscow region are still more concerned about the authorities closing holes on the roads than such technologies. The region has learned to close holes through the application using sent photos with coordinates and an electronic signature, and even this can already be considered a revolution, he believes. Maksut Shadayev added that the Moscow region will wait for one of the technological leaders, for example, the Federal Tax Service, to introduce this technology.

Tatyana Matveeva, head of the IT department of the Federal Tax Service, notes that there were a large number of meetings on blockchain in the Ministry of Communications, the Presidential Administration, and the Government Apparatus.

We looked at this technology, its advantages and disadvantages in different ways. She has a lot of merit, but this is not a panacea for everything and for everything. She has a specific scope of applications. In addition, there are some nuances related to legislation, with inspection bodies, with the fact that this is in any case an increase in infrastructure spending and many other things, - said Matveeva.

Any technology should be applied reasonably, the representative of the Federal Tax Service is sure. In her opinion, blockchain should first be a project solution, after which a specific financial and economic justification should be calculated, showing that the use of blockchain saves either labor resources or financial investments. After that, implementation should go.

Tatyana Matveeva highlighted their use in voting and in the processes of financial organizations as the most striking examples of the application of blockchain. If we talk about the use of technology in public services, big "stretches" begin here, the representative of the Federal Tax Service believes, because in this area there is often no mistrusted environment, mainly there is a trusted environment. No one has yet taken over the solution of the issue of legal legalization of blockchain in Russia in terms of application in authorities, she added.

Evgeny Chereshnev, "cyborg man," founder of Biolink, agrees that blockchain is not a panacea for anything. In his opinion, in order to solve most issues using blockchain, it is necessary to connect experts who are usually not connected to the discussion.

In my understanding, blockchain technology is comparable in scale to the invention of an electric light bulb. At the time of her invention, there were a lot of legal, tax, various issues. It's about the same scale. Another question is that the planet has become more populated, it has become more difficult to solve, the risks are higher. However, this does not mean that this should not be done, he notes.

The Ministry of Communications was instructed to deal with technologies, but from my point of view, the main thing is to deal not with technologies, but with the processes that are needed for the digital economy. Current legislation, for example, related to the cloud, to cryptography, using EDS, is not compatible with the concept of the digital economy. It is painful, complex, requires a huge amount of certification, etc. The introduction of blockchain is a revolution, it is incompatible with the current mechanism of the state pyramid, - believes Andrei Kolesnikov, head of the Internet of Things Association.

Chairman of the National Council of the Financial Market Andrei Emelin agrees with Tatyana Matveeva from the Federal Tax Service that so far they have not reached further than general estimates and approach to the experiment. Despite the fact that the Central Bank really understands where to use blockchain technology. As a lawyer, Emelin noted that with standard legal practice, such things cannot be approached. Especially in the financial sector, where serious amounts and serious risks are involved.

You need to understand that this is a given that can solve very serious problems, and you just need to figure out how to do it. To do this, you need, maybe with the political will, a collected community of professionals who are able not only to assess risks, but also to find ways to minimize and control them, "says Emelin.

The Central Bank, according to Andrei Emelin, approached the blockchain from the technological side, it became clear what to do, but when they encountered the first regulator, which they then applied this technology, he began to ask questions to which technologists had no answers.

At the moment, we can't even convince that reconciling a biometric profile with the resulting image is proof of identity. Even that causes complications. And we are talking about a step even further: that this not only confirms the identity, but also causes legal consequences associated with the fact that this person, simply presented, confirms his readiness to enter into legal relations. I do not know such decisions at the regulatory level so far even in the West, - said the chairman of the National Council of the Financial Market.

2016: FTS sees blockchain as an opportunity to exempt citizens from tax returns

The Federal Tax Service (FTS) intends to take the second step after the launch of online cash registers, which will allow abandoning the declaration mechanism for working with companies.

This will greatly simplify, document flow leave in the past the need to maintain a large staff of accountants and increase the efficiency of the system as a whole. This was "" To news said the deputy head of the department Daniil Egorov. The revolutionary plan of the Federal Tax Service is going to be implemented through the use of advanced technology (blockchain decentralized database on which, for example, works cryptocurrency bitcoin) Based on ^[4]

The deputy head of the Federal Tax Service said that the current scheme is heavy and creates many inconveniences for all its participants. The blockchain system will work on primary data that will go to the tax office right at the time of their registration from taxpayers. After that, the data will be summarized by the inspection, and the taxpayer will confirm them. Such a "breakthrough," according to Daniil Egorov, will benefit both taxpayers and the Federal Tax Service.

Notes