Russian development bank VEB said on Friday it had provided a guarantee for $3 billion of debt to the Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, led by Russian gas firm Novatek.
VEB said in a statement that the guarantee would help encourage overseas financing for the Yamal project, which it called strategically important for Russia.
In April, the Yamal project said it had signed loan agreements with Chinese banks worth over $12 billion.
Novatek holds 50.1 percent of Yamal LNG. France's Total and China National Petroleum Corp control 20 percent each, while China's Silk Road Fund owns 9.9 percent.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Susan Fenton)