The Arctic Debrief: Chinese energy company abandons Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project

In this edition:

• Chinese energy company abandons Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project
• Russia cancels Navy Day parade in Baltic Sea citing 'security reasons'
• Finland passes law permitting forced deportation at Russian border

Editor's note: Hello readers, my apologies for the lateness of this newsletter. I had some personal and work things come up, moving forward things should be back on schedule. As for the June monthly newsletter I am trying something new that I believe will result in a better overall experience hence the delay. Thank you for your understanding!

Latest Developments

Chinese energy company abandons Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project

Chinese manufacturer Wison New Energies, which constructed liquefaction modules for Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project, announced it will stop working with Russian businesses effective immediately.

“Wison New Energies' Board of Directors has decided to discontinue all ongoing Russian projects and will immediately and indefinitely stop taking any new Russian business,” reads a social media post by the company.

The company has also taken steps to distance itself from affiliated shipyard Zhoushan, which was working on orders for Arctic LNG 2, by announcing that it will look to sell their entire equity in the company. However, it did not state if the yard will stop manufacturing modules for Russia.

This move comes just a week after another Chinese company, the Penglai Jutal shipyard, was placed under US sanctions for delivering modules for the Arctic LNG 2 project. It is likely that Wison took these steps to avoid future sanctions on itself and from repercussions in the case that the Zhoushan shipyard is sanctioned.

Russia cancels Navy Day parade in Baltic Sea citing 'security reasons'

Submarines and Warships from Russia's Northern Fleet stopped their voyage to St.Petersburg and are returning to the Barents Sea.

The ships were supposed to participate in the Navy Day parade, but the ships turned around mid-journey with the Russian Navy citing "security concerns" in the region.

The parade, which is an annual event since 2017, puts Russian ships on display for the public to view. However, Russia has lost a large number of various types of vessels in its invasion of Ukraine. Most recently, it pulled back its last ships from the port of Sevastopol in Crimea.

While the country is constantly working on the construction of new navy ships, western sanctions have significantly impacted their progress.

Finland passes law permitting forced deportation at Russian border

Finnish President Alexander Stubb approved a bill which will allow border guards to deny all asylum seekers attempting to enter the country through Russia's border. The law also permits a clause that can be invoked to allow the country to deport all migrants back to the Russian border if deemed necessary.

The measure was introduced in an effort to combat Russia's weaponization of migrants to disrupt neighboring EU nations. In recent years, Russia and Belarus have used refugees and migrants to overload the target countries' legal and social systems with an large influx of illegal migrations.

The countries are known to intentionally fly civilians from countries such as Syria with the promise of a better life in Europe, to then drop them off at a border crossing.