US State Department imposes sanctions on two organisations and two vessels involved in exporting liquefied natural gas from Russia

The US Department of State has imposed sanctions on two companies and two vessels involved in the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) under Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which is already subject to existing restrictions.

The Department of State stressed that the restrictions apply to Gotik Energy Shipping Co. and Plio Energy Cargo Shipping OPC PVT LTD.

Gotik and Plio Energy are the registered owners and commercial managers of the LNG carrier New Energy. Plio Energy also manages and operates another vessel, the Mulan.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller explained that New Energy used deceptive shipping practices.

In particular, he noted that the company had disabled its automatic identification system to load cargo from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project, later transferring the goods to the LNG/C Pioneer, which was blocked by the US on 23 August 2024.

The statement added that the sanctions were imposed in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, aiming to increase global energy leverage against Russia.

Gotik and Plio Energy are listed under Section 1(a)(vi)(B) of European Presidential Decree 14024.

Earlier, the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to impose sanctions on Alexei Likhachev, CEO of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom.

The State Department has announced sanctions targeting Russian propagandists in response to Russia's attempt to interfere in the US presidential election.