Report: Sanctioned Russian energy giant secretly funded US gas project
Novatek allegedly supplied money to an Alaska gas venture discussed by Vladimir Putin and US envoys. The account puts the project's financing, regulatory approvals and place in Ukraine diplomacy under scrutiny.
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by Sami Haddad
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A sanctioned Russian energy company secretly helped finance an Alaska gas project later discussed by US envoys at the Kremlin, according to a New York Times investigation relayed by the Kyiv Independent.
The Times reported on October 23 that Novatek supplied at least some funding to Polar LNG, a US startup pursuing a multibillion-dollar project to liquefy and export Alaska's natural gas. Its account cited the venture's former chief executive and two other people familiar with the matter, according to the Kyiv Independent's October 25 article.
The proposal also reached high-level diplomacy. People familiar with the negotiations told the Times that Vladimir Putin discussed it with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during their September Kremlin visit. The project connects a proposed American energy development with Russian commercial interests and diplomacy over the war in Ukraine.
John Riddle, Polar LNG's former chief executive, told the Times he had been led to believe the money came from a company in the United Arab Emirates. He resigned in September after learning of hidden ties to Novatek, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Riddle objected to what he described as "Russian technology controlling the commercialization of Arctic gas in the North Slope." He also described the arrangement as unlawful and said he had notified Trump administration officials about the financing and urged them to investigate. That legal judgment is Riddle's, not an official finding.
