Essar, the Indian-owned conglomerate that operates Stanlow refinery (a major fuel hub in Cheshire, England, supplying roughly one in six British vehicles), moved billions of dollars in loans from the Kremlin-linked bank VTB out of Cyprus and into a subsidiary in Mauritius after Western sanctions were imposed following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a joint investigation by the Guardian and SourceMaterial. Because sanctions did not apply in Mauritius, the transfer allowed Essar to continue dealing with VTB — which has been described by one MP as "an arm of the Russian state helping finance a war of aggression" — without seeking approval from UK financial sanctions authorities. Sanctions experts have said the restructuring "raises red flags in relation to potential circumvention" and are calling on British authorities to open a formal investigation, while Cyprus is also examining whether the transfer violated EU sanctions rules; Essar insists it acted on expert legal advice and complied fully with all applicable sanctions law.