The Russian Police’s Main Directorate in Moscow has opened an investigation into embezzlement during the construction of the Yamal LNG plant, police sources told RBC.
Investigators are using the case file developed by the General Administration for Economic Security and Combatting the Corruption. The target of the investigation is unidentified OOO RSK-Logistik employees and managers.
The OOO RSK-Logistik embezzled a large sum of money by pretending to need them for construction of the “administrative area for gas condensate recovery and processing” for Yamal LNG from July 23, 2015 to November 7, 2017, according to investigators. The companies signed the contract for the area construction in June 2015.
Unidentified people were not going to complete the area, RBC’s source said. It is worth mentioning that the certificate of acceptance and the document stating the price contained inaccurate data, according to investigators.
Yamal LNG is the only private liquefied natural gas producer in Russia. Its plant near the Yuzhno-Tambeyskoe gas field was commissioned in 2017. The project’s budget is estimated at $27 billion. Chinese banks loaned about $12 billion for the project, the Russian National Wealth Fund loaned another $2.4 billion.
NOVATEK owns 50.1% of the Yamal LNG stock; French oil company Total and China’s CNPC each own 20%, while the Chinese Silk Road Fund owns 9.9%.
