The former head of the presidential administration in Russia in 1999-2003. Alexander Voloshin owns a stake in the American company American Ethane, said in a joint investigation of the newspaper The Guardian and the center "Dossier" by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Voloshin refused to comment on the publication. "Vedomosti" sent an e-mail to his waiting room and are waiting for an answer.

The investigation alleges that Voloshin invested in American Ethane $ 1.25 million, receiving a 2.5% stake. Now its package can cost tens of millions of dollars, notes The Guardian. According to journalists, settlements under the deal went also through Deutsche Bank.

American Ethane is engaged in the production of ethane (one of the elements obtained in the production of hydrocarbons used in the manufacture of plastic), its headquarters is located in Houston. In November 2017, the company entered into a $ 26 billion contract to supply liquid ethane to China. Arrangements were reached after the meeting of US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The US president then promoted deals that would create thousands of jobs in the US, The Guardian quoted the White House statement. The signing ceremony of the trade memorandum was also attended by US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who, according to the "Paradise Dossier", had business ties with the Russian petrochemical holding "Sibur".

Together with Voloshin investors American Ethane became former vice-speaker of the State Duma Mikhail Yuryev and businessmen Konstantin Nikolayev and Andrei Kunatbaev. In addition, the company invested $ 50 million billionaire Roman Abramovich. According to The Guardian, Abramovich invited Voloshin to the project, which Yuryev asked about. However, after the announcement of US sanctions against Russia in connection with the annexation of the Crimea, Abramovich left American Ethane. The representative of Abramovich declined to comment.

According to The Guardian, Voloshin, despite a small share, took the place of an independent director on the board of directors of the company. However, on the American Ethane website Voloshin does not appear on the board. The managing body includes Nikolayev and Kunatbaev.

 Voloshil was head of the presidential administration of Boris Yeltsin in March 1999, and then headed the administration of Vladimir Putin, working there until the end of October 2003. Although Voloshin left the Russian government, but remains an influential political figure and has extensive contacts in the West, including including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who advises the Trump administration across Russia, the newspaper writes. It is Voloshin who oversees, since 2009, expert work to create an international financial center in Moscow.

American Ethane CEO John Hewtaling told The Guardian that the company's ties with Russia were disclosed to relevant US departments. Nikolaev and Kunatbaev are officially listed as members of the company's board of directors. However, Voloshin's participation in the project was kept secret, The Guardian points out. As a former member of Putin's inner circle, he qualifies according to the compliance rules as a politically exposed person, and, therefore, his transactions are subject to increased supervision. Kunatbaev called Voloshin in an interview with The Guardian an honest man who does not view the US as a hostile country.

According to the newspaper, Voloshin regularly travels to the USA, and one of his children studied in Boston. The ex-head of the presidential administration is a member of the board of directors of the East-West Institute in New York, and his activities in American Ethane involve trips to Japan and China for company presentations to investors, the publication indicates. In Russia, Voloshin heads the board of directors of the First Freight Company, and is also a member of the board of directors of Yandex.