Revealed: UK oil refinery owner moved Russian loans to offshore subsidiary where sanctions did not apply

MPs call for investigation into Essar Energy, owner of Stanlow refinery, which shifted loans from ‘Putin’s piggy bank’ VTB to Mauritius

Days after the first wave of Russian tanks surged over the border into Ukraine in March 2022, dockers at a port in northern England took a stand.

Appalled by Vladimir Putin’s brutality, workers at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire vowed never to unload any Russian oil destined for the nearby Stanlow refinery, a major hub for UK fuel supplies.

As the spotlight fell on Essar, the Indian-owned conglomerate that is Stanlow’s parent company, it also acted fast, ceasing all imports of Russian fuel.

But analysis of the Essar group’s company accounts by the Guardian and SourceMaterial, an investigative journalism organisation, raises questions about whether the flow of money was staunched as swiftly as the flow of oil.