The Moscow moves: how Mandelson’s firm helped Uber reach Russian elite

theguardian.com:

Even before Uber’s top executives arrived in Davos in January 2016, its bosses were trying to secure invitations to the exclusive party hosted by the billionaire Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska. Famous for its free-flowing vodka, the event was an invitation-only, after-hours fixture of the world economic forum, the annual gathering of corporate leaders and politicians in the Swiss Alps.

Fortunately for Uber, it had hired someone who could pull strings. “Put them on list at door,” ordered Peter Mandelson, according to messages in the Uber files data leak.

Lord Mandelson’s business partner at their “strategic advisory” firm Global Counsel, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, quickly secured entry for a group of Uber executives. And when the big night came, one of Uber’s top staffers, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, danced exuberantly with a troupe of costumed Cossack musicians.

It was known that Mandelson, a member of the House of Lords, was a longtime friend of Deripaska. But leaked emails and text messages reveal the full extent to which the former Labour minister, who served under Tony Blair, has monetised hisaccess to a wider array of pro-Kremlin billionaires.

Documents show how Global Counsel secretly worked behind the scenes for Uber, with Mandelson and Wegg-Prosser appearing to operate as discreet advisers for the company in Russia between 2015 and 2016, brokering introductions with senior government officials and powerful business figures.

The pair helped Uber access Russia’s financial and political elites and manage sensitive relationships with oligarchs who have since been placed under sanctions by the UK and EU in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Uber files is a global investigation based on a trove of 124,000