Alaska Gas Project Leadership Exits After Russia Funding Claims

Nearly every member of the management team at Polar Train LNG has resigned from the US$25 billion gas export project. The departures follow allegations that Russia’s Novatek secretly financed and directed the venture, according to a Financial Times report.

Joel Riddle, the company’s former chief executive, told the newspaper he raised concerns about possible breaches of US sanctions. The project involves relocating a partially built Novatek terminal to the Alaskan north. It launched in March but requires US Treasury Department permission to negotiate with the Russian group. That approval has not yet been granted.

Riddle stated that Novatek was funding the venture and directing its operations before the required approvals were in place. He resigned in September. Chief financial officer Dan Chandra and other executives left afterward. Riddle said he found that the money originally thought to come from Gentry Beach and Tech Wave in Abu Dhabi was instead from Novatek. He noted that Gentry Beach was not a shareholder or an executive.

"I resigned as chief executive of Polar LNG because I felt uncomfortable that the Russian company Novatek was financing and ultimately controlling the strategic direction of the company," Riddle said.

The Financial Times reviewed WhatsApp messages in which Denis Solovyov, a Novatek board member, discussed financing the project. The messages showed Solovyov pressing for a faster transfer of funds to Polar Train LNG. Polar LNG rejected the allegations in a statement. The company said Riddle had been dismissed and called him a "disgruntled employee." It insisted the project was being developed in line with US law.

Novatek said it agreed to let Tech Wave use its technology in Alaska. The Russian group signed a memorandum with Polar Train in April, while Riddle was still leading the company. People who spoke to the newspaper said the project came up in talks between Washington and Moscow on business deals that might help end Russia's war against Ukraine. The discussions reportedly included a possible swap where Novatek would offer its expertise for building the Alaska terminal. In return, sanctions on Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project would be lifted.

The project has a longer backstory. In February 2026, Ekonomichna Pravda reported that Gentry Beach, a university friend of Donald Trump Jr, had announced an agreement with Novatek on a gas project in Alaska. On 9 October, reports said Russia was seeking sanctions relief as part of negotiations over a possible "energy ceasefire" with Ukraine.