Russia's largest independent natural-gas company, the U.S.-sanctioned Novatek, has hired leading U.S. public relations firm Qorvis to lobby for it.
Qorvis said in a disclosure filed with the U.S. Senate on August 11 that it would lobby for Novatek over the Obama administration's executive order on Ukraine-related sanctions as well as the Russian Aggression Prevention Act, a Republican-sponsored sanctions bill not expected to be get Senate approval.
Qorvis has come under fire for its client list, which has included the governments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Equatorial Guinea.
Gennady Timchenko, a 23.5 percent owner of Novatek, has also been hit with U.S. sanctions.
The sanctions against Novatek target the company's ability to get financing from U.S. entities for longer than 90 days.
