**4. Results and Discussion**

Despite the fact that projects are initiated by companies, the assessment of their sustainability based on indicators of sustainable development at the corporate level is incorrect. The potential for creating results in the company's operational and project activities is different, because stakeholders and their interests in relation to the company and the project may differ. In addition, the project may involve external participants who create the uniqueness of the asset (Figure 3).

**Figure 3.** Conceptual model of the results arising in the company's project and operational activities.

In addition to the different potential for creating results, the approach to evaluating project activities will also be different:


The external environment of project implementation is similar to the perimeter of the company that implements it. Accordingly, the external results of projects will affect the same areas as the company's activities, and will mainly affect the development of the region of presence, the industry and the national economy of the country as a whole, while simultaneously affecting the company's activities and satisfying the interests of project investors. The assessment of such an impact is made in the process of project sustainability analysis, aimed at a comprehensive assessment of the project results from the point of view of interests in the state-business-society system.

We propose to evaluate the sustainability of an LNG project as the project's ability to generate economic, social and environmental results that meet the expectations of stakeholders (Figure 4). With regard to LNG projects, such results should be aimed at the following targets:


Sustainable development of the project, i.e., the process of generating these results, must be not less than the period of its life cycle determined by the charter of the project, including the operational phase. The designated targets for sustainable development can be formulated in the form of the following goals:


opment) project participants. It also includes the results that will become sources of additional growth in the future.

3. Participation in solving socially significant problems in the region of presence. This involves the implementation of CSR programs focused on the needs of local population.

**Figure 4.** The concept of sustainability LNG project.

Sustainable development of the system is related to its ability to create economic, social and environmental results that meet the interests of stakeholders under existing restrictions. Based on the analysis of LNG projects implementing experience in Russia and in the world, we identified the main groups of stakeholders, their interests and potential contribution to the implementation of projects (Appendix A, Table A1).

For large-scale LNG projects, the list of expectations of stakeholders is quite high, which determines the number of possible effects that reflect its investment attractiveness. Moreover, the consequences of the project's implementation in the external environment, which determine its significance for the region and the industry (Appendix A, Table 2). It is important to note that the geographical and climatic features of the Arctic region in conditions of high dependence on foreign technologies and equipment require the activation of the innovative component at all stages of a project. This includes the organization and conduct of geological exploration, logistic support to industrial systems, organization and conduct of construction and installation work, the operation of production assets, and sales of finished products [57].

It is necessary to involve specialized universities and research institutes, scientific and technical centers and other participants offering advanced technological solutions for safe and efficient work in the extreme conditions of the North. For this reason, the effects of projects related to the development of innovations must also be taken into account.

Based on the analysis of the potential of Arctic LNG projects, the following groups of indicators can be identified for a comprehensive assessment of the results of such projects— macroeconomic, international integration, investment, infrastructure, sectorial, inter-project cooperation, innovative, human development, development of regional culture, improving living standards, environmental pollution, transition to clean energy and energy efficiency (Appendix A, Table 3).

Indicators for assessing the sustainable development of industrial systems, in our opinion, should meet the following requirements:


In accordance with the specified requirements, the following list of indicators for assessing the sustainability of Arctic LNG projects is proposed (Appendix A, Table 4). This list was tested in assessing the sustainability of the Yamal LNG project, as well as on the Arctic LNG-2 project planned for implementation with an investment decision already having been made. Lastly, it will be used on the Ob LNG project, on which an investment decision has not been made yet.

The indicators were evaluated using data from open sources, as well as the authors' own calculations. To set the weight coefficients, we used expert assessments obtained during a survey of a group of five experts in the field of project managemen<sup>t</sup> and sustainable development of Russian oil and gas company. The principle of setting weights is described in the Methodology section. Bringing the indicators to a single view was also performed according to the principle described earlier—through the ratio of the indicator value to the best among the projects.

Calculations are given in Appendix A in Table 5 and based on data from open sources. The results of the calculations show that the Yamal LNG project is the most sustainable in terms of the characteristics of results that correspond to the interests of stakeholders (Figure 5). However, it is necessary to take into account the high estimation error associated with the limited amount of data on planned projects in open access, which is typical for the Ob LNG project. Even with limited data on the Arctic LNG-2 project, it can be concluded that there is sufficient potential to create results in the external environment comparable to the Yamal LNG project.

**Figure 5.** Integrated sustainability indicators for Arctic LNG projects and their distribution by sustainable development areas.

A rating system based on weights, the sum of which gives the final value "100", and normalized according to the principle of bringing to the best result, assumes that the maximum value that can be obtained is 100. This allows us to consider the integral stability indicator not only as an absolute value, but also as a relative one. However, it should be noted that sustainability indicators have different sensitivity to certain project parameters and not every indicator in the project can be increased/decreased to the reference one. For example, a number of indicators depend on the production capacity of a plant, which means that a less productive plant has a certain limit in generating economic, environmental and social results compared to a larger asset. This indicates that sustainability cannot have criteria and the conclusion about it is made in comparison with another object. A more sustainable option is one that provides the greatest coverage of the project results for the key interests of stakeholders in each area of sustainable development.

The proposed assessment approach is applicable in portfolio analysis, since it provides a summary of the status of each project in a specific area, which in this case, is in the field of sustainable development. However, it should be noted that with such an assessment system, the company should not seek to equalize the indicators since this can be achieved by reducing the benchmark indicators, but rather to search for additional potential improvements in lagging areas. Therefore, the sustainability portfolio should be monitored comprehensively for all projects with dynamic changes analysis in the values of each indicator.

A promising area of application of the proposed indicators is mentioned early management of socio-economic development of the region. Large-scale LNG projects are systemforming in regional design and form the core for further development, inter-industry and inter-territorial interaction. The unique results of the projects created in the context of regional expectations and requirements should be evaluated on an early stage, included in comprehensive profile programs and regional development plans, and become specific objects of management, thereby creating maximum value for sustainable development of business, governmen<sup>t</sup> and society in the long term.
