Moscow, August 31, 2020 — Gazprombank and Digital Horizon, an international investment company, became prize winners of the 2019 FINAWARD, an annual award in the field of innovation and financial sector achievements. Edison, a retail system for the energy industry designed by Digital Horizon in partnership with Gazprombank, placed second in the category “Introduction of Blockchain Technologies in the Financial Sector.” The 10th jubilee FINAWARD award ceremony took place on August 27, 2020.
The Edison system is based on a RU-Chain platform solution and brings together all the participants of the retail energy market — resource suppliers, sales and management companies and end-consumers — in a single informational space. The process solution allows for the automated collection of data from smart metering devices and the automated application of charges, remittance of online payments and splitting of incoming payments in accordance with the terms of smart contracts, as well as for the remote connection and disconnection of subscribers — for example, in the case of bill arrears. The blockchain solution ensures the completeness, transparency and reliability of data by excluding mediators for energy-consumption calculations and payments for consumed resources. The pilot project on Edison’s introduction took place year-end 2019 at Yantarenergo (a subsidiary of Rosseti PJSC) in Kaliningrad Region.
“Gazprombank places a high priority on digitalization since it is one of the most important areas for the development of Russian electric power. We were pleased to learn that the technological project implemented with the Bank’s support was recognized by FINAWARD. I am glad that their experts noted that the Edison intelligent blockchain platform could elevate interaction between market participants to a qualitatively-new level,” said Vadim Dormidontov, Gazprombank Executive Vice President for Energy, Housing and Public Utilities.
“We are tremendously gratified that financial-sector experts have given such high marks to an Edison system that can be applied not just in the power sector, but in other areas of Housing and Public Utilities as well, for example — for water, gas and heat supply. Together with Gazprombank, we plan to develop the RU-Chain further and expand its functionalities. Blockchain is one of the most promising technologies for the digitalization of regional infrastructure management. We already offer ecosystem projects that cover a wide array of areas: from the introduction of school systems such as Passage and Meal and the concept of smart transport to the establishment of situation centers,” commented Andrey Balandin, Edison Project Supervisor at Digital Horizon.
The FINAWARD was established by the business magazine Bankovskoye Obozreniye in 2012. Over 500 applications were submitted to take part in the 10th jubilee award — the 2019 FINAWARD. Sixty-five projects made it to the short list. Winners in the competition categories were selected by the expert council, comprised of representatives of the Russian financial community.