Exposing the connections between Wintershall’s Siberian gas fields and Russia’s military supply chain

A joint investigation by Global Witness and Radio Free Europe (RFE) identifies a supply chain connecting Wintershall Dea's gas condensate production in Western Siberia to the Salavat refinery, which in turn supplies diesel to companies with Russian military contracts. While the report notes it is not possible to determine if a specific barrel of diesel contains Wintershall's condensate, it highlights that the refinery's output reaches suppliers for the Federal Guard Service (FSO) and other military units. The report criticizes Wintershall for its continued shareholding in these ventures and its pursuit of German government compensation despite these connections.

• Wintershall Dea's joint ventures, including Achimgaz and Achim Development, extract gas condensate from the Achimov deposits in Western Siberia. This condensate is processed at plants in Novy Urengoy and Surgut, with the Achimov deposits providing between 4 and 6 million tonnes of feedstock annually to the Novy Urengoy plant.
• Rail data from 2022 indicates that 66% of gas condensate leaving the Surgut plant—approximately 2 million tonnes—was sent to a station used by the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat refinery. This volume represents nearly one-third of the refinery's total raw material consumption for that year.
• The Salavat refinery supplied diesel in 2022 to companies with histories of Russian military contracts. This includes the firm Kedr, which supplied military units 38953-K and 69793 (the latter part of the FSO responsible for Vladimir Putin's protection), and fuel wholesalers Agro-Snab and Promkhim, which had contracts with military units 2432 and 5559 respectively.
• Despite claiming its Russian assets were 'economically expropriated' in January 2023, Wintershall's February annual report shows it still holds 50% and 25% shares in Achimgaz and Achim Development. The company is also considering applying for compensation from the German government for these investments.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). Exposing the connections between Wintershall’s Siberian gas fields and Russia’s military supply chain. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/exposing-the-connections-between-wintershalls-siberian-gas-fields-and-russias-military-supply-chain/

Chicago

Global Witness. Exposing the connections between Wintershall’s Siberian gas fields and Russia’s military supply chain. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/exposing-the-connections-between-wintershalls-siberian-gas-fields-and-russias-military-supply-chain/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=Exposing the connections between Wintershall’s Siberian gas fields and Russia’s military supply chain |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/exposing-the-connections-between-wintershalls-siberian-gas-fields-and-russias-military-supply-chain/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitnessndexposing, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Exposing the connections between Wintershall’s Siberian gas fields and Russia’s military supply chain}}, institution = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/exposing-the-connections-between-wintershalls-siberian-gas-fields-and-russias-military-supply-chain/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }