Russia is transferring control over gas export insurance to China, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reported, according to UNN.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation sent a letter to major insurance companies recommending that they reinsure the risks of liquefied natural gas supplies to China through Chinese insurance structures. The goal is to transfer part of the financial risks to the Chinese market, as Moscow can no longer carry the burden of its own energy exports alone and is asking Beijing to share it,
According to intelligence data, after 2022, Russian insurers were effectively cut off from the Western insurance market. Their own capacities are insufficient: the sums are large and the logistics are too complex. Therefore, the Kremlin, as noted, turned to the only remaining option – Chinese companies.
"By joining the scheme, the PRC gains powerful leverage – whoever controls the insurance terms also controls the logistics and the very possibility of supplies. This is not formal ownership of assets, but in terms of effect, it is the same," the intelligence service noted.
According to the General Administration of Customs of the PRC, imports of Russian LNG to China increased by 18.3% in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the Russian Federation supplied 1.4 million tons to the PRC – 6.72% more than a year earlier. China, as pointed out by intelligence, has turned into the main and, in essence, the only alternative destination for Russian liquefied gas.
"The problem for Moscow is that Chinese reinsurers will not engage in charity: they will factor sanction, logistical, and political risks into the cost of premiums. The bureaucracy of approvals, increased requirements for information disclosure, and dependence on Beijing's regulatory mood – all this becomes a permanent expense that will only grow over time," the report says.
And most importantly, as emphasized, Beijing is not bound by any obligations to keep the terms unchanged. "If sanctions pressure intensifies or market conditions change, China can easily revise tariffs, narrow coverage, or set new conditions – in exchange for lower gas prices or concessions in other projects. Russia will have nothing to respond with," the intelligence noted.
"For years, Moscow positioned the 'pivot to the east' as a strategic choice. In reality, it is a surrender that is gradually taking shape as standard practice. Now, Russia even writes insurance policies for its own gas through someone else's hands," the SZRU concluded.