Mandelson urged Putin to help firm that paid him £200,000
‘It is embarrassing that someone with such a high profile as Lord Mandelson is seen to be making overtures to someone like Mr Putin’
LORD MANDELSON has been accused of “pandering” to Vladimir Putin after he signed a letter to the Russian president urging him to help a Russian company that paid him £200,000 a year.
The letter signed by the former Labour business secretary asked Mr Putin to ensure that a legal dispute between the Sistema defence conglomerate, for which Lord Mandelson works, and Rosneft, a state-owned Russian oil giant, is “fair”. Sistema is accused by Rosneft of stripping assets from one of its subsidiaries when it was privatised and being pursued for £2 billion in the Russian civil courts. It denies the claims and will today seek to postpone proceedings in Moscow.
Lord Mandelson left his post as a non-executive director of Sistema at the end of June, but his House of Lords declaration states that he still owns shares in the company.
The letter to Mr Putin, obtained by the Kommersant newspaper in Russia, says the Sistema directors want to “draw your attention to a critical situation”.
Written before Lord Mandelson left Sistema, it continues: “In our opinion, the Rosneft and Bashneft legal case demonstrates the intention of some state companies to continue to influence the Russian economy and business climate, disregarding methods and possible consequences.
“This process will inevitably lead to lowering competition on the local market, to weakening of trust of Russian and foreign good-faith investors and will result in lower investments into the Russian economy.
“We ask you to facilitate the settlement of this dispute. We express our hope for a fair legal procedure and would like to reassure that we are ready to do everything necessary to protect and defend the rights of Sistema’s shareholders.”
Andrew Foxall, director of the Russia Studies Centre at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, said the communication is humiliating for Britain.
“At a time when the British government is trying to stand up to the Kremlin, it is embarrassing that someone with such a high profile as Lord Mandelson is seen to be making overtures to someone like Mr Putin.
“Not only is he pandering to the Russian president, he is also kowtowing to the Kremlin.”
Lord Mandelson was unavailable for comment last night.