At the end of 2017, three years after annexation Crimea and fought the separatists DonbassVladimir Putin has traveled Sabetta’s Siberian port fire first methane tanker recently opened terminal Yamal LNGone of the largest facilities gas production and liquefaction of the world. “Today is a great day for us,” the Russian president said happily. It was not for less. After many doubts about its viability, the project inhospitable arctic conditions And US sanctions. Both the deadlines and the planned budget were met. Putin’s dream is to compete with the big ones world liquefied natural gas exporters (LNG) was a little closer.
This Jamal’s origins important because more than 90% liquid gas HE European Union It continues to import from Russia as well. Integrity coming to Spain. A completely legal business without Brussels sanctions. One of Naturgy Current contract with Yamal until 2041, Spanish subsidiaries of Met, Dxt and Enet, Swiss traders They have also imported Russian gas to the Peninsula since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. spot markets or through third-party companies derived from data from the Kpler consultancy obtained by EL PERIÓDICO from the Prensa Ibérica group. Some of this money is indirectly Kremlin vaults and served to feed their pockets The oligarchs at the head of NovatekRussian company that controls Yamal’s majority stakewith 50.1%.
Novatek is the key piece of this story, Russia’s second largest gas produceronly exceeded by the state gazprom. But unlike the latter or the oil company Rosneftis a private company and technically Independent from the Kremlin, a situation that has long increased its attractiveness among foreign companies. Being privately owned also helped. third largest gas reserve in the world.
Moving Away From Novatek
But Putin’s war and Ukrainian activism are changing this perception. Last December, the French energy company Total Energy, Owning 19.4 percent of Novatek and 20 percent of the Yamal project, A.Ş. leaving Russia gradually. He didn’t just withdraw his members novatek advice but died write as lost According to Le Monde, all their assets are in Putin’s country. It will not sell its shares at the moment because Brussels punished To Novatek’s second largest shareholder, Gennadi Timchenko. First, Leonid MijelsonSanctions were imposed by , who is also the CEO of the company. United Kingdom And Canada.
Both are among the top 10 riches in Russia Putin’s close alliesHelping Yamal’s strategic project come to life. HE Kremlin provided some of the funding Although in the form of subsidies, Chinese the decisive actor that provides almost half of it through state banks. $27,000 million How much did the project cost? Inside Yamal Consortium also join China National Petroleum Corporationwith 20% of capital and Chinese sovereign fund Silk Road Fundwith 9.9%.
Moscow’s help did not stop there, it also helped Yamal, the producer of the entire film. Russian gas was imported to Spain— generous tax breaks not used by other hydrocarbon producers, creating tensions between industry leaders. “The straits social and commercial ties The Warsaw-based Center for Oriental Studies wrote in 2018 that the dispute between Novatek’s owners and the Kremlin was the main reason for its privileged position in the Russian energy sector.
Yamal LNG taxes
Yamal will not make any payments for the first 12 years from the date of its operation.export taxes nor mining. And a tax is applied on your income “preferred slice” 13.5% What it doesn’t mean Contributing to the Russian Treasuryfrom where funds to finance the war in Ukraine. Yamal last year 20% for your benefitswhich is 7,733 million euros at the current exchange rate. an amount to add additional 456 million According to the news published by the economic newspaper ‘Kommersant’ in April, after the Kremlin changed the exchange rate criteria.
And this year tax burden to the benefits LNG exports will increase by 3. 4%, a measure that the Kremlin aims to compensate increase in the budget deficit caused by war expense and a decline in revenue from hydrocarbon exports. ” Spanish imports producing income for the Russian state through Taxes paid by Yamal and Novatek“Although it’s less than it gets for gas exported by cylinder,” says Anne-Sophie Corbeau of the Center for Global Energy Policy. Since the occupation began, Spanish importers have spent almost 3.5 billion € According to estimates of the Energy and Clean Air Research Center (CREA), in the purchase of Russian gas.
It also fuels multi-million dollar accounts. Novatek’s major shareholders. “All that money makes it less likely that the oligarchs in charge of the company will eventually speak out or take positions against Putin,” he says. Anna MikulskaHe’s an analyst at the Houston-based Baker Institute.
Repsol contract
Of the Spanish companies, only Naturgy does not have a long-term contract with the gas company Timchenko and Míjelson. Three years before the start of the war, reply signed 15-year contract with Novatek importing liquefied gas Arctic LNG 2 –a factory still under construction– and other company projects. It was published by Novatek and reproduced by numerous Spanish media. However, in response to EL PERIÓDICO’s questions, the Spanish energy company claims that it neither has contracts with Russian assets nor does it import Russian LNG on a ‘spot’ basis for immediate purchase; this is information that coincides with the research of this paper.
” when it comes Contract with NovatekThe gas signed before the invasion does not come from the Arctic and does not come from any other Russian entity. Actually, last year Shipments of contract with Novatek come from USA“, Repsol spokesperson María del Carmen Sáez says.