Page 13 - bne_Tech_04_2019

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency
April 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
VEB.RF withdraws from blockchain competency centre in Moscow
EWDN in Moscow
VEB.RF (the new name for VEB, or Vnesheconom- bank, a major Russian state-owned financial institution) has stopped financing a digital transfor- mation and blockchain competency centre, which it had co-founded in late 2017 with Russia’s National University of Science and Technology (MISIS), reports East-West Digital News (EWDN).
The 5,000 sq. m. centre involved some 20 companies including Ethereum, Bitfury, Waves, E&Y and PwC. It was engaged in the introduction of the blockchain, for instance, in the process
of registering equity agreements in construction deals or in managing the pension account data of private pension funds.
As reported by business daily Kommersant, the bank considers the project to have failed to reach specific objectives and to no longer correspond to its investment priorities. According to Yury Pripachkin, president of the Russian Association of Cryptoindustry and Blockchain (RACIB), cited by Kommersant, VEB.RF’s decision to close the centre was also due to the delays in adopting cryptocurrency legislation in Russia.
Kommersant’s wrote that the process of VEB.RF withdrawal is now coming to an end, with most em- ployees of the competency centre already sacked.
VEB.RF, meanwhile, does not seem to have
lost confidence in the cryptocurrency world,
as witnessed by its partnership with Singapore- based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, announced just a couple of months ago, to launch a Huobi branch in Russia.
The bank’s decision to stop financing the competency centre should not be understood as reflecting
a lesser interest of Russian corporations and government organizations in blockchain technolo-
gies. However, competencies tend to be more internalized than just one or two years ago, hence reduced needs in third-party resources, an industry expert told East-West Digital News.
Wither Kazakhstan with Professor Alexey Malchenko
Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev surprised everyone and no one by stepping down from office last month after nearly three decades in power. We are now in a transition phases where Nazarbayev eases himself out of office, but clearly he intends to remain fully in control of the process.
On April 9 a snap presidential election was called that will be held in June and is likely to confirm interim Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the permanent head of the country.
What is not clear is what happens next? Will he continue Kazakhstan’s policies? Will he strike out in a new direction? Will he go after regional integration?
bne IntelliNews editor-in-chief Ben Aris talks to Professor Alexey Malashenko, the chief researcher at Dialogue of the Civilizations
in Moscow, about that could happen next.
Professor Alexey Malashenko,
the chief researcher at Dialogue of the Civilizations
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