Leonid Mikhelson

Leonid Mikhelson leads Novatek as Chairman, having built it from a small Siberian gas producer into Russia's largest independent natural gas company and a pioneering Arctic LNG developer. Mikhelson (one of Russia's wealthiest individuals) has been the driving force behind Novatek's transformation from a domestic gas pipeline supplier into a globally significant LNG producer. Novatek's crowning achievement is the Yamal LNG plant — located above the Arctic Circle on the Yamal Peninsula in northwest Siberia. Yamal LNG produces approximately 18 million tonnes of LNG per year from one of the world's largest gas reserves, shipped via ice-class LNG carriers through the Northern Sea Route. The project was completed on time and on budget, an exceptional achievement in such extreme conditions. The follow-up project, Arctic LNG 2, has been significantly impacted by Western sanctions: the U.S. and allies sanctioned the project, restricting access to Western technology, equipment, and financing. This has delayed the project and forced Novatek to seek Chinese and other non-Western alternatives. Key stock drivers include Russian gas production volumes, Yamal LNG production and LNG pricing, Arctic LNG 2 progress despite sanctions, global LNG demand and pricing, Northern Sea Route shipping logistics, sanctions evolution, and the overall outlook for Russian energy exports.