A Russian energy oligarch and the brother of the Biden Administration's climate czar are likely to reap the benefits of Team Biden's decision to pause exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), a report said.
John Podesta was behind the administration’s decision. His brother Tony Podesta, as a longtime lobbyist for foreign LNG companies — including one founded by a Russian energy oligarch — stands to profit off the decision, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Feb. 15.
Tony Podesta "has long represented foreign companies involved in the LNG industry," the Free Beacon noted. "Over the past decade, Tony Podesta’s client roster has included LNG group Golden Pass, which is co-owned by the state-run QatarEnergy, and the Bulgarian company Protos Energy, which reportedly hired him to work on LNG-related issues."
Since 2022, Tony Podesta’s lobbying firm has raked in over $1 million from Gemcorp, an investment fund that was prohibited from working on a Bulgarian LNG and energy development project due to the company’s links to Russia.
Gemcorp was founded with $250 million in seed money from Russian energy tycoon Albert Avdolyan and telecom mogul Serguei Adoniev, the Financial Times reported in 2022. The funding reportedly came from their sale of a company connected to Rostec, the sanctioned Russian defense conglomerate.
Adoniev, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, was sanctioned by the U.S. government last year.
"It's no secret that John Podesta is the person behind this moratorium," one energy industry insider told the Free Beacon. "Congress should take a very hard look at the fact that his own brother stands to financially benefit from a restriction of U.S. LNG on the global market, whether it be from his past work with the Qataris or current reported work with Russian-backed entities with interest in LNG. Less U.S. LNG on the global market will ensure Qatar and Russia receive hundreds of billions of dollars that would otherwise go to the U.S."
Team Biden's new LNG policy is seen as a gift to green energy activists in the Democrat Party base.
Deep-pocketed left-leaning donors, including charities funded by the Rockefeller brothers and Michael Bloomberg, have poured millions of dollars into environmental groups that lobbied to cut off new LNG permit approvals, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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