"PwC's Rush to Aid Powerful Russians Amid Sanctions Revealed in Cyprus Investigation"
Accounting firm PwC's Cyprus branch, PwC Cyprus, has been implicated in helping powerful Russian oligarchs evade Western sanctions and maintain their vast wealth. Leaked documents reveal that PwC Cyprus provided services to at least 62 shell companies and trusts controlled by Russian billionaires Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov, including their steelmaker Evraz PLC, which produces the majority of rails used by Russia's military in the war in Ukraine. The documents also show that PwC Cyprus helped Russian clients under threat of sanctions transfer hundreds of millions of dollars between secretive shell companies, sometimes involving asset transfers to family members to evade sanctions. PwC has stated that it complied with EU and UN sanctions before Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has severed ties with 60 clients as a result of its new Russia-related sanctions policy.