Russia has moved ahead with the first stage of its massive Vostok Oil project in the Arctic, a development estimated at 10 trillion roubles ($118 billion), as state owned oil giant Rosneft seeks to expand production in the country’s Far North despite tighter Western sanctions.
The first stage includes a 790-kilometre pipeline and a new export terminal at Bukhta Sever on the Taimyr Peninsula. The project was formally opened on September 5 when Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Rosneft chief Igor Sechin by video link for the ceremony. Putin described the development as an important event for Russia Arctic region.
Vostok Oil is designed to develop a large group of oil fields in northern Russia and establish infrastructure to transport crude to Arctic export routes. The project is strategically important to Moscow as it seeks to maintain oil production while output from some of the country’s more accessible reserves declines.
However the development has progressed amid major changes to Russia’s oil services industry following Western sanctions imposed after Moscow launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
An investigation by RFE/RL’s Russian investigative unit Systema and Arctic focused NGO Arctida examined companies and contractors involved in the project. It identified business links involving sanctioned billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky, Rosneft linked companies and Taimyr Invest, a logistics company in which Marat Kabayev, the father of Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva acquired a 25% stake in early 2026.
Financial documents reviewed by the investigators show that Vostok Oil paid Taimyr Invest less than 200 million roubles ($2.4 million) between 2024 and 2026. Court documents also indicate commercial links between Taimyr Invest and Sinarastroikomplekt, which was previously controlled by Pumpyansky and became a major contractor and supplier for Vostok Oil.
The investigation found that Russia has increasingly relied on domestic companies and successor businesses after several major Western oil service companies reduced or ended their direct operations in the country.
Baker Hughes sold its Russian business to local management in 2022, with its former assets transferred to Russian company OFS Technologies. Halliburton also transferred its Russian operations to local management. According to documents reviewed by Systema and Arctida, Halliburton’s successor, Burservis, received Vostok Oil contracts worth more than 8 billion roubles ($95 million) between late 2023 and spring 2026.
Weatherford and SLB, formerly Schlumberger, suspended new investments, shipments or deployment of new technology in Russia following the 2022 invasion. However investigators found that Russian subsidiaries and affiliates continued some activities connected to the Vostok Oil project.
Oil Services Adapt to Sanctions
The US Treasury Department sanctioned the Rosneft affiliated operator of Vostok Oil in January 2025 and later imposed restrictions on US companies providing oil services in Russia. Despite these measures, the investigation found evidence of continued imports of foreign made equipment through Russian oil service companies and affiliates.
Customs records examined by Systema and Arctida showed that SLB related Russian affiliates imported more than 5.7 billion roubles ($680 million) worth of equipment between January 2024 and 2025, with much of it manufactured in China or India.
Financial records also indicate that Bashneftegeofizika a Russian oil services company involved in exploration at the Vostok Oil site, received nearly 13 billion roubles ($154 million) from Vostok Oil between 2021 and 2025.
The development of Vostok Oil highlights the challenges Western sanctions pose to Russia’s Arctic energy ambitions while also showing how Russian companies have reorganised supply chains, contractors and technical services to continue work on the project. The scale of the infrastructure being developed underscores the importance Moscow places on maintaining Arctic oil production and export capacity.