Sanctioned Russian gas producer Novatek secretly financed an Alaska LNG project discussed in US-Russia talks, New York Times reports

Novatek, Russia's second-largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), secretly funded Polar LNG, an American company planning to liquefy and export gas from Alaska, The New York Times reported on October 23. The report was summarized by the Kyiv Independent. The United States has sanctioned Novatek since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, so the funding may have broken sanctions. According to the Times' sources, the project was part of an energy deal that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner discussed during their September visit to the Kremlin. The report does not establish whether either envoy knew of the financial link.

John Riddle, Polar LNG's former chief executive, resigned in September after learning of the hidden ties to Novatek. He says he told Trump administration officials about the Russian financing and urged them to investigate.

The arrangement has a public history. In February, Russian-language outlet Meduza reported that Gentry Beach, an investor close to the Trump family, told the Times he had reached an agreement with Novatek to develop an Alaskan gas field using a mobile liquefaction unit being built at Novatek's site in the Murmansk region. In March, the Russian edition of The Moscow Times reported that Polar LNG wanted to buy equipment from Novatek's sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. It had applied to the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for permission. The first phase was expected to cost $8 billion to $9 billion, with an investment decision in mid-2027 and first production in 2029 or 2030.

Each party has its own reason to promote a particular version. Kyiv-based outlets present the deal as evidence that Washington is trading sanctions enforcement for commercial gain. Moscow has an interest in giving US officials a financial stake in a settlement. For Washington, the deal would mean more US LNG exports and Alaskan jobs.