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Despite sanctions, Russian gas has been flowing to Europe for years via a Zug company. But the noose is gradually tightening around the company. An on-site inspection.
May 9, 2026, 9:59 p.mMay 9, 2026, 9:59 p.m
The last hurdle is a white door. There is a sign next to it with the address: “Novatek Gas & Power”. A final call goes unanswered, so the doorbell rings. A woman opens it and invites you into the foyer.
What immediately catches the eye is the huge brown marble wall behind the reception desk, with the company name shimmering on it in silver letters. There are glazed offices on the left and the large meeting room on the right with a view of Zuger Bundesplatz. The furnishings are stylish and it smells like spring.
At reception, the woman who introduces herself as the office manager explains that no information is being given. The managing director is currently in Moscow. In any case, the company does not want to appear publicly. The telephone number in the commercial register has no longer been in use for a long time.
Managing director refuses to speak
When asked why a Zug company was turning away journalists, she replied: “We are not monsters.” Good relations are maintained both with the federal government and with the local authorities. The Zug Finance Directorate was recently welcomed. (A later inquiry to the finance directorate revealed that this was a routine visit by the tax administration. Finance director Heinz Tännler emphasized: “I do not maintain any communication with the company in question.”)
Finally, the office manager hands out her business card. The newspaper should submit a written request for a conversation with management. The woman promises a prompt answer – but this doesn’t come. Despite asking, no conversation takes place.
There is definitely a need for clarification. Because recently has the Federal Council decidedthat Swiss companies are no longer allowed to buy liquefied natural gas from Russia. The ban has been in effect since Saturday, April 25th. For pre-existing long-term delivery contracts, a transition period applies until the end of the year.
Novatek is directly affected by this – its entire business model is based on trading in Russian gas. But the company with its stately branch in downtown Zug obviously doesn’t want to talk about its activities in Switzerland.
A giant in its industry
Novatek is Russia’s second largest gas exporter, behind Gazprom. But while Gazprom is probably well known to most people, for example as a former UEFA sponsor, Novatek is hardly known in this country. The company is a giant in its industry.
In 2025, Novatek will have the equivalent of around 15 billion francs Sales made. The bottom line was a profit of almost 2 billion francs. The company earns its money primarily by exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the inhospitable north of Russia.
In Western Siberia, Novatek operates two large plants where natural gas is produced and liquefied to reduce volume. It is then transported to Europe on special ships. On websites like Vessel finder.com you can trace the routes of the ships loaded with Russian LNG, which are mostly traveling under false flags.
At European ports, such as Zeebrugge in Belgium or Bilbao in Spain, the liquid gas is stored in LNG terminals. It is then converted back into the gaseous state and fed into the European gas network via pipelines, whereby it also ends up in Switzerland.
Oligarch network in Switzerland
Novatek has been active in this country with various offshoots since 2005. In 2012, these were merged into Novatek Gas & Power GmbH in Zug, with the aim of bringing the parent company’s main export product to European customers: Russian LNG.
The managing director of the branch is Sergey Gzhelyak – the man who was in Moscow during our visit. Gzhelyak is a Russian citizen and has been a loyal subordinate of the oligarch Gennady Timchenko, who is well connected in this country, for years.
Timchenko is a former co-owner of the raw materials company Gunvor, based in Geneva. That’s where he has most of his fortune – according to Forbes around 24 billion US dollars – made. He now holds around a fifth of Novatek through his investment company Volga Group.
Gzhelyak has held various leadership positions in Timchenko’s corporate empire since 2007, including managing director of Gunvor’s Moscow branch. Since 2019 he has been managing director of the Zug branch of Novatek.
The head and main shareholder of the Novatek parent company in Moscow is the Russian oligarch Leonid Mikhelson. Mikhelson, in turn, has had business ties with Timchenko for almost twenty years. Both are close confidants of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and are therefore on sanctions lists in various countries.
Just like Novatek: The company is in the USA, for example itself, its Siberian project “Arctic LNG 2” and the management around Mikhelson were sanctioned. In the EU, Novatek has so far been able to avoid sanctions – which is probably mainly due to the French energy group Total Energies’ investments in Novatek and “Arctic LNG 2”. But the noose is gradually tightening in Europe too.
Strike against the company
Novatek is not mentioned by name in the EU’s 19th sanctions package against Russia, which Switzerland adopted. However, the “ban on purchasing and importing Russian LNG” stipulated therein is a clear blow to the company and its activities in Europe.
In addition, the EU has announced that it will take stronger action against Russian shadow fleets and crypto transactions. Recent activities have shown that “Russia is increasingly using crypto assets to circumvent sanctions,” it says in the EU communication on the 19th sanctions package. In both the EU and Switzerland, all crypto services to Russian companies as well as transactions with ruble-backed cryptocurrencies have recently been banned.
All of these measures are likely to make it difficult for Novatek to continue to use Switzerland as a European hub for its LNG exports. Local critics had long complained that numerous Russian companies were still abusing the Swiss location to fill Putin’s war chest.
During the four years of war the Novatek Group and his Siberian facilities Over 10 billion francs were delivered to the Russian budget via profit tax. No one in charge wants to comment on this, neither in Moscow nor in Zug. (bzbasel.ch)