Russian Government News

Foreign shareholders suspended participation in the Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions, renouncing their responsibilities for financing and for offtake contracts for the new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, the daily Kommersant reported on Monday.The project, seen as a key element in Russia's drive to boost its LNG global market share to 20% by 2030 from 8%, was already facing difficulties due to U.S. sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and a lack of gas carriers.China's state oil majors CNOOC  and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) each have a 10% stake in the project…

Russia is hoping its shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will offset a sharp fall in pipeline gas exports to Europe, but a shortage of gas tankers and sanctions hold back its plans, analysts and industry sources said.Russia wants to boost its share of the LNG market to 20% by 2030 from 8% now, but a force majeure declaration by top producer Novatek over LNG supplies from its future Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions shows the hurdles it faces.Novatek's announcement comes after the United States last month imposed sanctions on Arctic LNG 2…

The U.S.-led coalition imposing a price cap on seaborne Russian oil announced changes on Wednesday to its compliance regime the Treasury Department said will make it harder for Russian exporters to bypass the cap.The Treasury also imposed fresh sanctions on a ship manager owned by the Russian government and three oil traders involved in Russian oil trade.The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries last year imposed a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian oil shipments in…

Russia said on Sept. 21 that it had temporarily banned gasoline and diesel exports to all but four ex-Soviet states in response to domestic shortages, a move that will disrupt global trade that has already had to adjust to Western sanctions on Russian fuel exports.Russia eased some of the restrictions on Sept. 25, saying it would allow the export of bunkering fuel for some vessels and diesel with high sulphur content. The government has yet to give a timeline for any further easing…

The Russian government has approved some changes to its fuel export ban, lifting the restrictions for fuel used as bunkering for some vessels as well as diesel with high content of sulphur, a government document showed on Monday. It also lifted restrictions on the export of fuel already accepted for export by the Russian Railways and Transneft before the initial ban had been announced last week. The ban on all types of gasoline and high-quality diesel remains in place. Russia…

A Kremlin aide urged the Russian government on Thursday to adopt legislation allowing foreign-flagged vessels to use the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which Moscow wants to turn into a new Suez Canal.The NSR runs from Murmansk near Russia's border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska.Although the route is physically challenging, it could cut sea transport times between Europe and Asia at a time when Russia's trade with Western countries is at post-Cold War lows following Moscow's decision to send troops into Ukraine."We have been left without transit routes.

Japan, the world's top liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, is facing its latest challenge in securing vital gas supplies from Russia after Western reinsurers said they would halt marine war insurance for ships travelling in Russian waters from Jan. 1.Having joined other G7 countries in imposing sweeping sanctions on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, Japan has been reducing its reliance on Russian oil and coal, but it continues to buy Russian LNG amid elevated prices in a tight…

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday delivered Russia's long-awaited response to a Western price cap, signing a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations that abide by the cap. The Group of Seven major powers, the European Union and Australia agreed this month to a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil effective from Dec. 5 over Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine. The cap is close to the current price for Russian oil…

Three Japanese insurance companies that are set to halt marine coverage of risks related to the war in Ukraine starting next month are in talks with reinsurers to resume those operations, they said on Monday. Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Sompo Japan Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance on Friday told shipowners that they would stop offering marine war insurance, which covers damage to ships from war in Russian waters, from Jan. 1, spokespeople at the companies said. Their comments confirmed local media reports on Saturday.

Russia suspended participation in the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal after what it said was a Ukrainian drone attack on vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol in the early hours of Saturday. What do we know so far? WHAT HAPPENED? Russia said 16 air and maritime drones attacked civilian and Black Sea Fleet vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol in Crimea at 0420 Kyiv time on Saturday. Russia said all nine of the air drones were destroyed. Four of the seven maritime drones were destroyed on the outer perimeter of the bay, but three more made it inside before they were destroyed, Russia said.

Oil output at the giant Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 Russian Pacific project collapsed following the U.S. major's refusal to accept local insurance for tankers after Western insurers pulled out due to sanctions, several industry sources told Reuters. Western insurers withdrew cover from tankers operated by state-run Sovcomflot, Russia's biggest shipping group, which was sanctioned following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "Exxon has refused to take Sovcomflot's tankers," one industry source said.

Late last month, a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying corn pulled into the Turkish port of Izmir on the Aegean Sea. The SV Nikolay had loaded the grain at Port Kavkaz, in Russia, six days earlier on June 18, according to documentation provided by an employee of the Russian company that owns the ship.A Reuters analysis of satellite imagery, ship-tracking data and open-source photos and videos yields a different port of origin for the SV Nikolay. On June 18, Reuters’ analysis of a satellite image indicates…

The Italian government ordered police on Friday to impound a luxury yacht worth some $700 million that has been linked in the media to Russian President Vladimir Putin.The sleek, six-deck Scheherazade had been undergoing repairs in the Italian port of Marina di Carrara since September, but recent activity at the dockside suggested that the crew might be preparing to put to sea.A source with direct knowledge of a weeks-long investigation into the vessel said police believed the owner was Eduard Khudainatov, the former chief of Russian energy giant Rosneft who is not currently a target of EU sanctions.In a statement announcing the seizure order…

Authorities in Fiji have seized a $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov at the request of the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday, as Washington and its allies press Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.A Fiji court had ruled on Tuesday that the United States can seize a Russian-owned superyacht, weeks after it arrived and was impounded by police. Authorities in various countries have seized luxury vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in response to sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a special military operation.Kerimov was sanctioned by the United States in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia's actions in Syria and Ukraine. He has also been sanctioned by the European Union.The U.S.

Spanish police on Monday impounded a superyacht belonging to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg on behalf of U.S. authorities, the first time the United States has seized property belonging to a Russian oligarch since its invasion of Ukraine in February.Valued at more than 90 million euros ($99 million), the 78-metre-long "Tango" (255 ft) was seized in a shipyard on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, the Guardia Civil police and the U.S. Justice Department said in parallel…

Russia's shipping trade has plummeted since Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions push many foreign companies to suspend sailings, adding further pressure on the country's economy, according to freight data.The world's biggest foreign container lines—including the top three MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM and others such as Hapag Lloyd—have temporarily suspended cargo shipments to and from Russia, while multiple companies including home furnishings firm IKEA have shut stores.Food companies Nestle…

Russian troops were in the center of the Ukrainian port of Kherson on Thursday after a day of conflicting claims over whether Moscow had captured a major urban center for the first time in its eight-day invasion.Russia's defense ministry said it had captured Kherson on Wednesday but an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded that Ukrainian forces continued to defend the Black Sea port of about 250,000 people."We are a people who broke the enemy's plans in a week," Zelenskiy said in a video address.

French customs have seized a yacht belonging to Rosneft boss Igor Sechin as it tried to leave the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat in a breach of EU sanctions on Russian oligarchs, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.The move came as western states are implementing massive sanctions, including asset freezes, against Russia for invading its neighbor Ukraine. A separate nearly $600 million luxury yacht owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has also been seized, by German authorities, Forbes reported. The 88-meter "Amore Vero" arrived in La Ciotat on Jan.3 and was due to stay there until April 1st for repairs, the finance ministry said in a statement…

Britain on Monday ordered its ports to block any vessels that are Russian-flagged or believed to be registered, owned or controlled by any person connected with Russia as it ratcheted up the pressure on Moscow.Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a letter to all UK ports that further detailed sanctions against Russian shipping were being drawn up following Russia's invasion of Ukraine."The maritime sector is fundamental to international trade and we must play our part in restricting Russia's economic interests and holding the Russian government to account…

The U.S. Senate on Thursday failed to pass a bill to slap sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, a day after Democrats unveiled their own legislation.The tally was 55 in favor and 44 against the bill that needed 60 votes to pass, a major hurdle in the 50-50 Senate. The vote spanned nearly seven hours as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer considered options on voting rights legislation.Senator Robert Menendez won the support of many of his fellow Democrats, including President Joe Biden, for an alternative bill he introduced on Wednesday.

The U.S. Senate will vote on Thursday on a bill being pushed by Republican Ted Cruz to slap sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in Europe, although it is not expected to garner enough support to pass.The bill is scheduled for a vote at around 2:45 p.m. ET (1945 GMT), according to Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.Cruz struck a deal with Democrats last month to get a vote before Jan. 14 on the Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline in exchange for lifting his hold on dozens of Democratic President Joe Biden's ambassador nominations.Under the deal…

The suspension of the approval process for the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline by a German regulator could be short-lived as Europe is hungry for more gas, an analyst said on Monday after meeting officials of Russian state gas giant Gazprom.Last week, Germany's energy regulator temporarily halted the certification process for the new pipeline that will carry Russian gas into Europe, throwing up a new roadblock to the contentious project and driving up regional gas prices.German…

The consortium behind the Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline said on Thursday a second Russian pipe-laying vessel is undergoing sea trials ahead of joining the project, as it presses on with construction despite growing political pressure.The vessel, the Akademik Cherskiy, left the German port of Wismar on Thursday with the intention of later joining the project in Danish waters, the consortium told Reuters.The United States has criticized the plan to build the pipeline from Russia to Germany…