China’s Sinopec pauses Russia projects

Hard hit: The seized Lena superyacht, owned by Timchenko at a port in Italy. Sanctions by the EU and Britain on allies of Putin are affecting business involving China and Russia. — Reuters

BEIJING: China’s state-run Sinopec Group has suspended talks for a major petrochemical investment and a gas marketing venture in Russia, sources told Reuters, heeding a government call for caution as sanctions mount over the invasion of Ukraine.

The move by Asia’s biggest oil refiner to hit the brakes on a potentially half-billion-dollar investment in a gas chemical plant and a venture to market Russian gas in China highlights the risks, even to Russia’s most important diplomatic partner, of unexpectedly heavy Western-led sanctions.