American Ethane Company website nor by its publications although these foreigners have significant interests in American Ethane. Finally, Konstantin Nikolaev is a partner and close associate of Vladimir Putin's inner circle through Igor Levitin, Alexey Mordashov, Arkady Rotenberg, and Gennady Timchenko. American Ethane Company American Ethane Company, LLC (AEC) is the largest producer of ethane in the United States. It is a Houston, Texas, based American petroleum company established in January 2014 with offices in New Orleans. It is privately held with large investments from Russian oligarchs who are close to Vladimir Putin's inner circle. As of July 2018, Konstantin Nikolaev, Mikhail Yuriev,
Arkady Melua Arkady Melua Arkady Ivanovich Melua (7 February 1950, Kazatin) is the general director and editor-in-chief of the scientific publishing house, Humanistica. Starting in 1969, Melua served and worked as an engineer at the Ministry of Defense facilities. In 1973, while having served in the military, he received a degree in engineering at the Leningrad Engineering-Construction Institute. He participated in the construction of an educational nuclear reactor in one of the military schools. In 1974, he began conducting scientific research. Melua was a member of the Soviet Union project of long-term lunar base (research leader - the chief designer of the