President Vladimir Putin launched the first loading of LNG from the plant earlier on Friday. It has been bought by Novatek gas and power, a Novatek subsidiary, and is likely to be shipped to China, according to Mikhelson.

China's CNPC and the Silk Road Fund, along with France's Total, are the shareholders in Yamal LNG. They will receive LNG according to their stakes in the Novatek-led project until April 2018, he said.

He added that LNG from the plant will not compete with Gazprom's pipeline gas in Europe. According to Mikhelson, Japanese firms and Chinese CNPC are considering taking a stake in the second Novatek plant, Arctic LNG.