Sanctioned but still shipping: Russia's Gazprom sends new LNG cargo to China

LNG supplies resume after pause

Russian company Gazprom has carried out a second shipment of liquefied natural gas to China from the Portovaya plant, which is under sanctions.

The facility has a relatively small capacity of about 1.5 million tons of LNG per year.

It is located on the Baltic Sea coast and began operations in the fall of 2022.

Initially, supplies from this plant were directed to Türkiye and Greece, but over time, the export geography expanded. The list of buyers came to include China, Spain, and Italy.

Impact of US sanctions

After the introduction of US restrictions in January 2025, exports from Portovaya were effectively halted.

The restrictions are aimed at limiting Russia’s ability to produce and sell LNG, as well as reducing revenues from the energy sector.

However, shipments are gradually resuming. The LNG tanker Valera, previously named Veliky Novgorod, loaded at the plant on January 25 and delivered fuel to Beihai, China.

Supply geography and new routes

This voyage became the second after the pause: the first cargo was sent to China in December 2025.

At the same time, another Russian project — Arctic LNG 2, which is also under sanctions — is supplying shipments to Beihai.

Before the restrictions were imposed, Portovaya used to send an average of two tankers per month in winter.

Currently, in addition to two deliveries to China, the facility sends one cargo per month to Kaliningrad.

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