Northern sea octopus: shadow business of the NSR

The Kremlin calls the Northern Sea Route Russia's strategic breakthrough into the 21st century. But behind the loud statements about the development of the Arctic lies a network of private companies with criminal records of the owners, defense contracts and connections with the “shadow fleet”. Chronicles.Media, following Arctida , shows how key northern logistics operators are embedded in a system where government megaprojects, military bases and dubious schemes go hand in hand.

The development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is one of the “megaprojects” that Vladimir Putin loves to talk about. First of all, the Northern Sea Route is a logistics corridor that allows for the export of energy and mineral resources from the northern regions of Russia. It also ensures the transportation by sea to Asia of petroleum products that Russia previously exported to Europe. Also, the Northern Sea Route is important for the development of the Arctic and northern regions of Russia.

But, as it turns out, the seemingly private business to which the Northern Sea Route is given turns out to be directly connected with the state, oligarchs, the defense industry and Russia’s “shadow” exports.

Arctic LNG-2: who transports cargo to Mikhelson’s construction site

The TK Northern Project company is positioned as a key independent operator of the Arkhangelsk transport hub. Formally, the company is engaged in maritime transportation, freight and port logistics. In fact, we are talking about a structure built into the largest infrastructure and defense projects in the Russian Arctic - from the construction of LNG plants to the maintenance of Rosatom facilities and the implementation of state defense orders.

One of the most powerful cargo areas of the Northern Project was ensuring the construction of LNG projects on the Gydan Peninsula in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. First of all, we are talking about NOVATEK Leonid Mikhelson’s megaproject - Arctic LNG-2, which should produce almost 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year. The resource base of the project is the Salmanovskoye (Utrenneye) field.

The infrastructure contractor at these construction sites is the Nova company, a specialized structure that is part of the holding of one of the richest people in the country, Leonid Mikhelson. Such projects require the delivery of a colossal volume of cargo: pipes, cement, residential modules, drilling equipment, metal structures. It is their transportation that is serviced by TK Northern Project as an operator of short-sea routes along the Northern Sea Route, including state-subsidized routes.

Criminal records and shares: who is behind the Northern Project

“TK Northern Project” is closely connected with Mikhelson’s structures. But formally the key figure is Arkhangelsk businessman Denis Kuzmin. He owns 90% of the company. Another 5% each belongs to General Director Mikhail Artyukhov and entrepreneur Dmitry Chernov.

Kuzmin is an interesting personality. In the mid-2010s, he became involved in a criminal case involving the withdrawal of $370 thousand abroad through a fictitious foreign economic transaction. The money was deposited into offshore accounts of shell companies as payment for certain maritime services.

However, in 2018, the criminal case against Kuzmin was unexpectedly closed. He was sentenced to a court fine of 230 thousand rubles. The court decision explains this incredible leniency towards fraud-like schemes by the fact that Denis Kuzmin bought a ship, hired a crew and began providing services to foreign companies, thereby increasing the flow of foreign exchange earnings to Russia. In fact, Kuzmin was released because he continued to engage in entrepreneurial activities.

This story then developed: two years later, the arbitration court heard a case against TC Northern Project regarding the withdrawal of $130 thousand abroad. As in the case against Kuzmin, it turned out that the money was withdrawn to the foreign company Golden Breeze Shipping Corp, allegedly for brokerage services for the purchase of a vessel, which in reality cost only 10 thousand dollars, the contract with the company was a fake, and the company itself was used as a “layout.” The final recipient of the funds was Denis Kuzmin himself, who in this way simply tried to “launder” the withdrawal of money from the Northern Project. This time the Arbitration Court was not so lenient and fined the company 6.3 million rubles.

Kuzmin also owns other companies, including the Arkhangelsk shipbuilding plant "SP Chaika". Its director is co-owner of TC Northern Project Dmitry Chernov.

He also had problems with the law. In 2014-2015, a criminal case was heard in a court in Arkhangelsk against Dmitry Chernov as the owner and general director of the Nord-S company. Chernov was then accused of tax evasion of 16 million rubles. During the long proceedings, the state prosecutor reduced the amount by half, as a result of which the qualification of the charges was changed, and the case was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Defense customers: from military bases to the nuclear center

"TC Northern Project" actively works with Rosatom and the state defense order. For example, in 2025, one of the main customers of the ship company was Zapsibgazprom-Gazification, which is engaged in the construction of military bases for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Another customer is the state enterprise RFNC-VNIIEF. Behind this abbreviation lies the Sarov Nuclear Center, which develops nuclear weapons.

Among the contractors of the Northern Project is one of the largest EPC contractors (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) in the Russian oil and gas industry, Velesstroy. This company is controlled by Croatian citizens Mihajlo Perenčević and Krešimir Filipović. International investigative media call these Croats close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and their company acted as a contractor for the construction of a residence near Gelendzhik, better known as “Putin’s palace.” In 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev awarded the entire management of Velesstroy with the Order of Friendship.

Arkhangelsk hub: terminal and government support as the key to the NSR

In 2024-2025, Denis Kuzmin turned his company into a super-operator of the Arkhangelsk transport hub. TK Northern Project has actually merged with the Polar Trans company, which owns a new railway terminal in Arkhangelsk - an important logistics hub for the region and the Northern Sea Route. Kuzmin became the owner of 55% of Polar Trans.

This project enjoys public support from the authorities. Thus, the governor of the Arkhangelsk region, Alexander Tsybulsky, personally opened and advertised the new terminal. Deputy Chairman of the Russian government Yuri Trutnev also visited the terminal.

Guarantor and creditor: the role of Archrechport in the growth of the NSR operator

Financial documents reviewed by Chronicles.Media indicate a stable relationship between TK Northern Project and Arkhangelsk River Port. Thus, the port actually acted as a guarantor for the loans of TK Northern Project, and also provided its services to the Northern Project on credit - for many years it was the Northern Project that was the largest debtor of the Arkhangelsk River Port. In recent years, the Northern Project has been providing loans to Archrichport.

The generosity of Arkhangelsk River Port is easy to explain: the owner of this company, Konstantin Kuznetsov, was once one of the founders of TK Northern Project.

Kuznetsov is one of the major regional sponsors of the local branch of United Russia. His other company, the Arkhangelsk Fleet Repair and Operation Base, transferred 3 million rubles to the party in 2024.

It is interesting that Kuznetsov was previously convicted of giving a bribe for monopoly transportation to Solovki and for the deliberate bankruptcy of the Ecotek-Bunker company, but the convictions were subsequently cleared.

“Shadow Fleet” outside the Arctic: Sevastopol—Venezuela—Syria

The activities of the Northern Project are not limited to work in the Arctic alone.

So, in 2024, it was written about the Yenisei vessel, part of the TK Northern Project fleet, that it was involved in transporting grain from Sevastopol to Venezuela, while the automatic identification system (AIS) was turned off. After arriving at the port of Puerto Cabello, the ship was faced with a refusal to berth, which was associated with the entry into force of the 14th package of EU sanctions, which introduced restrictions on vessels of the Russian “shadow fleet”.

Another Northern Project vessel, the Sibir, was involved in a similar story, which also transported grain. Another ship of the company, which is called the Northern Project, was noticed transporting goods from Sevastopol to Syrian Latakia.

All this is very far from Arkhangelsk and from the Northern Sea Route. But it is in line with the state policy of modern Russia.

Not the “Northern Project” alone

The second key player in the development of the Northern Sea Route is the Eco Shipping company. She is also from Arkhangelsk and positions herself as an independent sea carrier, but this is not entirely true.

Eco Shipping has recently been hiding its owners, but it is known that instead of a general director, it has a management company - Arctic-Trans, which belongs to Artem Andreev. This is the son of the Arkhangelsk “supervisor” Ruslan Andreev, who was killed in the early 2000s. At least until recently, the main owner of the company was his brother Pavel Andreev, who in October 2025, as a shareholder of Eco Shipping, entered into a cooperation agreement with the government of the Murmansk region, represented by Governor Andrei Chibis.

Eco Shipping services NOVATEK's projects - OJSC Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG-2, where the main beneficiaries are billionaires close to Vladimir Putin - Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko. In February 2024, the United States designated Eco Shipping as part of a network providing infrastructure construction for the Arctic LNG 2 project.

“Eco Shipping” must live up to its name at least a little, so it participates in a reputational project for collecting scrap metal in the Arctic. One of the main contractors of the company is Arktikvtormet with the Clean Arctic project. Eco Shipping has learned to monetize its eco-reputation.

One of the problems of Arctic logistics is empty return flights. The ships carry expensive cargo to the North, but returning empty is unprofitable. And the way out of this situation is the removal of scrap metal. Tons of Soviet scrap have accumulated in the Arctic: barrels, equipment, etc.

Arktikvtormet accumulates scrap in Tiksi, Ust-Kuiga and other ports, and Eco Shipping vessels remove this scrap on the way back. This turns a loss-making flight into a profitable one.
As in the case of TK Northern Project, Eco Shipping ships are involved in “shadow” military supplies. Thus, the ship “Cape Zhelaniya”, associated with the company, which usually operates on the Northern Sea Route, was discovered in January 2026 in the port of Tobruk (Libya), where it arrived accompanied by a Russian destroyer. This suggests that Cape Desire appears to have delivered military cargo that could have been destined for Wagner's successor, the Afrika Korps.

Researchers, based on satellite images, suggested that Cape Zhelaniya brought S-300 or S-400 launchers.

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For many, the Russian North is romantic. But for the Russian authorities and those close to them, this is a business that brings in billions. That’s why there are so many “shadow” sectors and outright criminals around the Northern Sea Route, demonstrating their loyalty and receiving their share of fabulous profits for this.

Maxim Privin, Anna Orlova