To boost transparency, Ukraine turns to blockchain The governments of several countries have already adopted this transaction-tracking software to increase transparency and efficiency.Loading... April 13, 2017 NEW YORK—Ukraine has partnered with global technology company the Bitfury Group to put a sweeping range of government data on a blockchain platform, the firm's chief executive officer told Reuters, in a project he described as probably the largest of its kind anywhere.Bitfury, a blockchain company with offices in the United States and overseas, will provide the services to Ukraine, chief executive officer Valery Vavilov said in an interview on Wednesday.Ukraine's blockchain initiative underscores a growing trend among governments that have adopted the technology to increase efficiencies and improve transparency.Blockchain is a ledger of transactions that first emerged as the software underpinning digital currency bitcoin.It has become a key global technology in both the public and private sector given its ability to permanently record and keep track of assets or transactions across all industries.Ukraine and Bitfury are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on Thursday, Mr.

Though Vavilov said he was unable to estimate the cost of the project, he said it was the biggest government blockchain deal ever so far.litecoins minen 2014It involves putting all of the Ukraine government's electronic data onto the blockchain platform."Abitcoin kantorysecure government system built on the blockchain can secure billions of dollars in assets and make a significant social and economic impact globally by addressing the need for transparency and accountability," said Vavilov.There are other countries that have started blockchain programs, but they are smaller in scope involving one or two sectors, such as land titles and real estate ownership.ethereum lendingCountries that have launched blockchain programs include Sweden, Estonia, and Georgia."Thisethereum coin max

agreement will result in an entirely new ecosystem for state projects based on blockchain technology in Ukraine," Oleksandr Ryzhenko, head of the State Agency for eGovernance of Ukraine, said in an emailed response to Reuters questions."Ourbitcoin billionaire pc gameaim is clear and ambitious – we want to make Ukraine one of the world's leading blockchain nations."Ukraine'sbitcoin en tunisiedeal with Bitfury will begin with a pilot project to introduce blockchain into the country's digital platform.The areas being explored for the pilot project are state registers, public services, social security, public health, and energy, Vavilov said.Follow Stories Like This Get the Monitor stories you care about delivered to your inbox.Once the pilot is complete, the blockchain program will expand into all areas, including cyber security.This is Bitfury's second government blockchain project.

In April last year, Bitfury signed an agreement with Georgia to pilot the first blockchain land-titling registry.Sean Gallup / Getty Images Bitcoin prices began dropping rapidly Thursday following the People’s Bank of China’s announcement that it was barring the digital currency from all of China’s financial institutions.Individuals can still use Bitcoin, albeit at their own “risk.” While Bitcoin was trading at a high of $1,240 prior to the statement, it quickly sank to a low of $870, a 30 percent drop.Bitcoin’s price has always been volatile.In November, the currency made news when it reached what was then an all-time high of $305.WHEN Alina, a Moldovan student, had her bank card rejected by a cash machine last week, her first thought was to wonder whether the bank had quietly gone under.Happily, the cause was a fleeting technical glitch—but her reaction was not far-fetched.The country’s financial system is limping badly.In November, thieves stole $1 billion from Moldova’s three biggest banks through a series of fraudulent loans and transfers.

Moldova, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, is the poorest country in Europe; the theft amounted to more than an eighth of GDP.It has set in train a series of events that will leave the government unable to pay salaries by the end of the summer, according to the recently departed finance minister.The fraud left the three banks insolvent, so the National Bank of Moldova, the central bank, has taken them over, injecting 12.5 billion Moldovan lei ($660m) in new capital.It did not have such a sum to hand, however—it had to create it.The huge expansion of the money supply caused inflation to double to 8% and the currency to drop.It has fallen by 20% against the dollar this year.Should the Lions pick all 15 players from one team?A new front in the legal fight over Donald Trump’s travel banQatar Airways wants a 10% stake in American AirlinesIreland and Afghanistan become the first new Test nations in 17 yearsWhy calculating a British parliamentary majority is so trickyHumanist nuptials are popular in Scotland but only beginning in UlsterIn response to the jump in inflation, the central bank began raising its benchmark interest rate sharply.

It has vaulted from 8.5% in January to 15.5% now.That, along with the addled state of the banks, is causing businesses to rein in their investments.It does not help that Russia, one of Moldova’s biggest trading partners and source of almost $800m in remittances from Moldovan workers last year, is facing an economic crisis.Russia’s recession has caused Moldova’s GDP growth to fall by 4.6 percentage points, the World Bank reckons.That accounts for a big part of the economy’s reversal from growth of 5% in 2014 to a contraction projected at 2% this year.In addition to all these disasters, the country is in the grip of political upheaval.The prime minister, Chiril Gaburici, resigned in June after state prosecutors and fellow politicians accused him of forging his high-school diploma.A replacement was only agreed this week.Meanwhile, many of the foreign countries and international agencies that bankroll Moldova’s government say they are suspending assistance until it gets to grips with corruption and mismanagement in the financial sector.

The European Union was the most recent donor to pull out, announcing on July 5th that it was freezing its €40m ($44m) aid programme.The World Bank has stipulated that it will resume lending only if the three stricken banks are closed, since it considers them open targets for future fraud, even in the hands of the central bank.The government relies on concessionary loans and aid to plug its deficit, which is projected to be 7% of GDP this year.The loss of tax revenue caused by the recession will only make the shortfall grow.The government has slashed spending, disbursing 20% less than planned in the first five months of the year and freezing all investment projects from July.Two public hospitals in the capital, Chisinau, briefly closed all departments except emergency services and surgery earlier this year.Suspending basic services, however, will only exacerbate Moldova’s problems.It is not clear that the country’s political elite has much interest in sorting out this mess.It was not until April that much information about the bank scandal became public, after the speaker of parliament leaked a report on the crime by Kroll, a security firm.

The judiciary is not strong enough to clamp down on corruption.A week before Mr Gaburici stepped down, he called for the chief prosecutor to resign over his failure to act on the bank scandal.“The heist was obviously covered up,” says Francis Malige of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).The EBRD recently tried to buy a majority stake in Victoriabank, one of the largest remaining private banks, to try to ensure a continued flow of lending to local businesses; the government inexplicably blocked the acquisition.Moldova’s fortunes do not need to be so grim, says Alex Kremer of the World Bank’s local office.It has a long border with the EU, and an extremely competitive average monthly wage of just over €200.“This should be a booming export economy,” he says.“If they sort out the governance and corruption, it will be.”Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that Moldova's parliament inexplicably blocked the EBRD's acquisition of Victoriabank.