Owners of Baimskaya: From the main Arctic construction site to a closed club

We tell you how one of the largest investment projects in the Russian Arctic maintains ties with Kazakh billionaires

At the beginning of March 2026, a meeting of the State Commission on Arctic Development was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev. Among the key topics, the development of infrastructure in Chukotka was discussed within the framework of the Baimsky Mining and Processing Plant project, one of the largest investment projects in the Russian Arctic. Formally, the implementation of the project is under the control of a Russian closed-end mutual investment fund. However, the Baimsky GOK is still associated with foreign beneficiaries and intermediaries, despite American sanctions.

“Unmanned quarries” and a trillion investments: what is included in the Baimsky GOK

The Baimsky project includes the construction of a mining and processing plant and a quarry at the Peschanka copper-gold deposit, as well as transport infrastructure to service the project - a year-round marine terminal on Cape Nagleinyn near Pevek and a highway that will connect the mining and processing plant with the port. The development of the Baimskoye field is being implemented within the framework of the “Project Financing Factory” mechanism, which is supervised by the Ministry of Economic Development in partnership with commercial banks, primarily with VEB.RF.

The total investment in the project is more than 1 trillion rubles; the Baimsky GOK is included in the strategic development plan for the Chukotka District until 2030.

The government reports that this is the first mining and processing complex in Russia using unmanned technologies in the extraction of copper ore: the project provides for the formation of so-called “unmanned quarries” - mining complexes in which the main operations are performed by autonomous equipment under the control of remote operators. The Rostec structure “RT-Business Development” may take part in the implementation of this initiative.

Regrouping against the backdrop of sanctions and connections with the Trutnev family

Until 2018, the Baimskoye field belonged to Roman Abramovich and Alexander Abramov. They then sold it to the Kazakh corporation KAZ Minerals, which is controlled by billionaires Vladimir Kim and Oleg Novachuk. At that time, Nornickel was also considered as one of the bidders for the purchase, but at the beginning of 2018 the company was actively involved in a joint project with Russian Platinum to develop the Chernogorsk copper-nickel deposit in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. As a result, control over the Baimskoye deposit was given to KAZ Minerals, which already had experience in developing large copper mines in Kazakhstan, but it was the first time it had to work in Arctic conditions.

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of Western sanctions, direct ownership of the field through foreign companies became impossible. Initially, the assets associated with the Baimsky GOK were transferred to the Kazakh company Trianon Limited, controlled by Kim and Novachuk. In the spring of 2024, against the backdrop of American sanctions against the Baimskaya GDC, a new regrouping took place: control of the project passed to the Russian closed-end mutual investment fund Palmira Severa.

This fund is managed by LLC Management Company Ruscapital, the sole owner of which is its general director Oleg Balan.

Among the legal entities previously managed by Ruscapital LLC, the oil company Reed Oil-Perm stands out, co-owned by Yuri Trutnev’s son Dmitry in 2018–2023.

Trutnev Sr. himself actively oversees the implementation of the development of the Baimskoye field. It was the Deputy Prime Minister who in 2018 discussed with KAZ Minerals “ the possibility of participating in the development of the Baimskoye deposit .” In addition, Trutnev personally inspected the Baimsky GOK during the construction phase. In 2023, he instructed the Governor of Chukotka Vladislav Kuznetsov to provide full support to the project, emphasizing that after the plant is put into operation, it itself will become the main economic support for the region.

How the Baimsky GOK is still connected with billionaires from Kazakhstan and what do Dubai intermediaries have to do with it

In December 2025, Sistema found out that the ultimate beneficiary of the Baim project could be Kazakh billionaire Vladimir Kim. He was called the confidant and even the “wallet” of the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The construction of the Baimsky GOK was carried out by Vega Development LLC. As Sistema wrote , its founder is the Dubai legal entity Nord Rim DMCC, which is also affiliated with Vladimir Kim through the RBK bank controlled by him.

In 2024–2025, Vega Development LLC received more than 10 billion rubles from GDK Baimskaya LLC for services for managing the construction of the plant (data on financial transactions is at the disposal of Arctida). 2.5 billion of these funds under an agency agreement were then transferred to Odin Consulting FZE, a UAE-registered company that exports and imports oil and gas products, fertilizers, metals and minerals.

According to Arktida, Kim’s partner at KAZ Minerals Oleg Novachuk also remains associated with the Baimsky megaproject. Novachuk was the founder of Vega Development LLC until March 2025. In addition, another legal entity associated with Baimsky, Northern Engineering Solutions LLC, is engaged in the construction of infrastructure for mining projects in Chukotka.

This company is registered at the same address as Baimskaya Energy LLC, which is in the process of liquidation, and, judging by similar classifiers of types of economic activities (OKVED), can completely replace it. The founder of Northern Engineering Solutions is the private company Nomad Construction Limited, which is backed by Novachuk’s Kazakh business partner Alen Baigazin.

It should be noted that the Baimskaya Energy company was also involved in the construction of infrastructure for the Baimskoye field. Until mid-2025, its director was the namesake of the Kazakh billionaire Anna Novachuk.

Thus, the project for the development of the Baimskoye field, which is strategically important for the development of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is being implemented with large-scale government support, but the final beneficiaries and intermediaries are foreign legal entities. This demonstrates the limitations of the sanctions regime: despite the restrictions imposed, the participation of foreign structures in the project remains.

At the same time, the integration of structures associated with the family of Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev into the management of Arctic assets shows that government priorities in Chukotka are intertwined with the commercial interests of a narrow circle of people.