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Kunlun Red Star Energy Trading, a company linked to Russian billionaire and longtime Putin ally Gennady Timchenko, has become one of the largest exporters of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), the investigative project Dossier has discovered.
At the end of 2024, the European Union began developing its 15th package of sanctions against Russia. One of the most radical proposals on the table is a complete ban on imports of Russian LNG, an initiative sponsored by Poland and the Baltic states. Europe has embargoed deliveries of seaborne oil from Russia, and pipeline natural gas shipments are falling; however, Europe has not yet weaned itself off of Russian LNG, which makes its export increasingly important in the structure of Russian oil and gas revenues.
The key player in this market is Gennady Timchenko, an old friend of Vladimir Putin's. Dossier found that Kunlun Red Star Energy Trading, a company affiliated with Timchenko, currently ranks among the largest Russian exporters of liquefied natural gas. A year and a half ago, no one had heard of this firm, but by mid-2024 it had exported $514 million worth of LNG from Russia.
Timchenko co-founded Kunlun Red Star Energy Trading with Chinese businessman Billy Ngok, according to Dossier's investigation. As the managing director of China Environmental Energy Investment, Ngok focuses on natural gas and high-speed trains and has business assets in Russia.
Kunlun Red Star Energy Trading is registered in Hong Kong and has a Moscow representative office. The firm is part of a group of companies split between Hong Kong and Cyprus. As Dossier writes, the convoluted arrangement makes it possible to hide the ultimate beneficiaries — even if one of them is a close friend of Putin's who has long been under Western sanctions.
According to customs data, Kunlun Red Star Energy Trading exports gas from the Portovaya LNG plant near St. Petersburg. A total of 25 shipments have been made. In 14 cases, Revitus LNG terminal near Athens — Greece's only LNG terminal — was named as the recipient. Dossier believes that the gas was intended for the domestic Greek market or was later piped to the Balkans. In other cases, the port of destination is unknown.
Investigators have estimated that, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kunlun Red Star Energy Trading has been Russia's 11th largest LNG exporter. The first 10 spots are occupied by major oil and gas companies, led by Singapore-based Yamal LNG, which has exported gas worth a total of $19.5 billion over the past two years.
Kunlun Red Star Energy Trading has exported Gazprom petroleum products and helium, along with Surgutneftegaz oil. The combined value of Kunlun’s trade involving the two Russian companies totals $13.1 million. Not coincidentally, Gazprom and Surgutneftegaz have long-standing partnerships with Timchenko.