SourceMaterial

The upshot? Essar soon owed VTB even more – and authorities in Cyprus are looking closely at whether it broke the rules. Essar says it has complied with all of the applicable sanctions at all times and that it is winding down its VTB relationship. source-material.org/essar-stanlow-…

At the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Essar owed $3.1 billion to VTB, the huge Kremlin-controlled Russian bank. Our latest investigation, with the Guardian, reveals that its response to sanctions on VTB was to shift the loans out of the EU from Cyprus to Mauritius.

This investigation was a partnership between SourceMaterial and Politico. Read their version here: politico.eu/article/seeds-…

Interviews with 44 farmers across four Kenyan counties, as well as biofuel experts, activists and lawyers, raise doubts about Eni’s claims, suggesting the project has hit local food production. source-material.org/eni-italian-oi…

NEW: In Kenya, poor farmers have gone hungry after signing up for a biofuel project with the Italian oil major Eni, SourceMaterial’s investigation has discovered.

In 2022, Italian oil company Eni approached Kenyan farmers with a pitch: plant castor, and we’ll buy the crop to turn into green fuel. But an investigation by POLITICO and @Source_Mat found many smallholders were left with no pay — and no food. 🔗 politico.eu/article/seeds-…

This investigation was a partnership between SourceMaterial and @POLITICOEurope. Read their version here: politico.eu/article/seeds-…

Meanwhile, trade data analysis indicates that Eni has made up for Kenya’s failing castor harvests by shipping in vast quantities of South African rapeseed—a food crop that the EU says shouldn’t be used in renewable fuels. source-material.org/eni-italian-oi…

“My family really suffered because of the hunger” As part of a flagship biofuel project, the Italian energy major Eni has handed out castor seeds to over a hundred thousand Kenyan farmers. In interviews with SourceMaterial, many farmers said the project has failed them.

This investigation was a partnership between SourceMaterial and @POLITICOEurope. Read their version here: politico.eu/article/seeds-…

Some castor farmers said they were plunged into poverty after crops failed or Eni’s partners did not come back to buy them. Others said that even when middlemen did return, they paid less than promised. source-material.org/eni-italian-oi…

Seeds of doubt: how the Italian oil giant Eni handed out castor seeds to over a hundred thousand Kenyan farmers to make biofuel from the harvest, before leaving many without income or food.

This investigation was a partnership between SourceMaterial and @AFP

NEW: Last month, Indonesian authorities arrested 11 people on suspicion of bribery and disguising palm oil as a less strictly regulated byproduct. SourceMaterial can reveal that exporters targeted in this probe supplied major international companies. source-material.org/indonesian-exp…

This is a months-long investigation involving multiple sources in Indonesia and Europe, and a lot of data and documents. Great reporting by @sarahussein and our partners at @Source_Mat

This investigation was a partnership between SourceMaterial and @AFP

Indonesian exporters targeted in a palm oil bribery probe supplied major international companies, casting doubt on Europe’s ability to prevent fraud in its biofuels market, a SourceMaterial investigation has found. source-material.org/indonesian-exp…

INVESTIGATION: Indonesian firms targeted in a palm oil fraud probe supplied European firms, an investigation by AFP and SourceMaterial (@Source_Mat) has found. The European firms include Italian energy giant Eni and Finnish sustainable aviation fuel leader Neste u.afp.com/SLMh

Shell yesterday scrapped its sale of $500m of North Sea assets to Viaro Energy, owned by Italian entrepreneur Francesco Mazzagatti. Both parties cited changing market conditions. The move followed our investigation into Mazzagatti's career. source-material.org/mazzagatti-via…

🎉 Thrilled that SourceMaterial was Highly Commended at the British Journalism Awards for Energy & Environment Journalism! Huge thanks to our amazing team for all their hard work — onto the next story! ⚡🌿