diff --git a/backend/src/contracts.js b/backend/src/contracts.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7795181
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/contracts.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+const ethers = require('ethers');
+
+const { getContractAddressByNetworkName } = require('./contract-config');
+const DAOArtifact = require('../contractArtifacts/DAO.json');
+
+const network = process.env.ETH_NETWORK;
+
+console.log('network:', network);
+
+const getProvider = () => {
+  switch (network) {
+    case 'localhost':
+      return ethers.getDefaultProvider('http://localhost:8545');
+    case 'sepolia':
+      return new ethers.InfuraProvider(
+        network,
+        process.env.INFURA_API_KEY,
+      );
+    default:
+      throw new Error('Unknown network');
+  }
+};
+
+const wallet = new ethers.Wallet(process.env.ETH_PRIVATE_KEY, getProvider());
+
+const getContract = (name) => new ethers.Contract(
+  getContractAddressByNetworkName(process.env.ETH_NETWORK, name),
+  DAOArtifact.abi,
+  wallet,
+);
+
+module.exports = {
+  dao: getContract('DAO'),
+};
diff --git a/backend/src/import-from-ss.js b/backend/src/import-from-ss.js
index af450d6..39040fe 100644
--- a/backend/src/import-from-ss.js
+++ b/backend/src/import-from-ss.js
@@ -4,39 +4,13 @@ const crypto = require('crypto');
 const objectHash = require('object-hash');
 const Promise = require('bluebird');
 
-require('dotenv').config();
-
 const verifySignature = require('./verify-signature');
-const { getContractAddressByNetworkName } = require('./contract-config');
 const { authorAddresses, authorPrivKeys, forum } = require('./db');
-const DAOArtifact = require('../contractArtifacts/DAO.json');
+const { dao } = require('./contracts');
 
 // Each post allocates 30% of its reputation to citations
 const PPM_TO_CITATIONS = 300000;
 
-const network = process.env.ETH_NETWORK;
-console.log('network:', network);
-const getProvider = () => {
-  switch (network) {
-    case 'localhost':
-      return ethers.getDefaultProvider('http://localhost:8545');
-    case 'sepolia':
-      return new ethers.InfuraProvider(
-        network,
-        process.env.INFURA_API_KEY,
-      );
-    default:
-      throw new Error('Unknown network');
-  }
-};
-const signer = new ethers.Wallet(process.env.ETH_PRIVATE_KEY, getProvider());
-const getContract = (name) => new ethers.Contract(
-  getContractAddressByNetworkName(process.env.ETH_NETWORK, name),
-  DAOArtifact.abi,
-  signer,
-);
-const dao = getContract('DAO');
-
 const fetchWithRetry = async (url, retryDelay = 5000) => {
   let retry = false;
   let responseData;
diff --git a/backend/src/index.js b/backend/src/index.js
index 22225b3..55e58ab 100644
--- a/backend/src/index.js
+++ b/backend/src/index.js
@@ -32,3 +32,9 @@ app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
 app.listen(port, () => {
   console.log(`Listening on port ${port}`);
 });
+
+// TODO: Subscribe to contract events
+
+// TODO: Send matrix room events for proposal events
+
+// TODO: Send matrix room event on SS import