Tory peer lands Russian bonus

CONSERvAtIvE peer Lord Barker will bag a bonus for his work in getting US sanctions lifted from Russian mining giant EN+.

Last April the US treasury put sanctions on companies run by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, including EN+, claiming that thanks to his close ties to President vladimir Putin he benefited from Russia’s ‘malign activity’ across the world. But the US lifted them in January after 51yearold Deripaska agreed to give up control by radically reducing his stake.

Barker, who is executive chairman of EN+, is a former tory MP who joined David Cameron on his infamous hugahuskie trip to the Arctic in 2006, told a commodities conference in Switzerland: ‘I will get a bonus. It’s relatively modest.’ the bonus amount will be revealed in En+ Group’s annual accounts published later this year.

Barker, 53, took time out from his role in the House of Lords in February so that he could concentrate on his role at EN+.

In annual results released yesterday, En+ said its revenue rose 2.3pc to £9.5bn, while profits surged 33pc to £1.5bn.