Fortunately for Uber, it had hired someone who could pull the strings. “Put them on the list at the door,” Peter Mandelson ordered, according to messages in leaked Uber data files. Lord Mandelson’s business partner at “strategic consultancy” 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 executives, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, danced exuberantly to a troupe of costumed Cossack musicians. Uber executive dances at party thrown by Russian billionaire in Davos in 2016 – video Mandelson, a member of the House of Lords, was known to be a long-time friend of Deripaska. But the leaked emails and text messages reveal the full extent to which the former Labor secretary, who served under Tony Blair, has cashed in on his access to a wider range of pro-Kremlin billionaires. Documents show how Global Counsel was secretly working behind the scenes for Uber, with Mandelson and Wegg-Prosser appearing to act as discreet advisers to the company in Russia between 2015 and 2016, brokering introductions to senior government officials and powerful business figures. The pair helped Uber gain access to Russia’s financial and political elites and manage sensitive relationships with oligarchs who have since been sanctioned by the UK and EU following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Q&A

What are Uber records?

projection The Uber Files is a global investigation based on a trove of 124,000 documents leaked to the Guardian. The data consists of emails, iMessages and WhatsApp exchanges between the top executives of the Silicon Valley giant, as well as memos, presentations, notebooks, briefing documents and invoices. The leaked records cover 40 countries and span from 2013 to 2017, the period when Uber was aggressively expanding around the world. They reveal how the company broke the law, deceived police and regulators, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments around the world. To facilitate a global public interest investigation, the Guardian shared the data with 180 journalists in 29 countries through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The investigation was managed and led by the Guardian with the ICIJ. In a statement, Uber said: “We have not and will not condone past behavior that is clearly inconsistent with our current values. Instead, we’re asking the public to judge us based on what we’ve done in the last five years and what we’ll do in the years to come.” Thanks for your response. Global Counsel, which was set up after Mandelson left government in 2010, has previously said it does not engage in lobbying and differentiates its activities from those of traditional public affairs consultancies. It emphasizes that it offers companies strategic and political advice, not lobbying services. However, the documents suggest that the company was instrumental in supporting Uber’s own lobbying activities and worked with politicians and policymakers on the company’s behalf in both Russia and Europe. The filings also raise questions for Global Counsel about what Wegg-Prosser knew about a secret payment Uber made to a political operative in Russia, despite Uber’s internal concerns that the lobbyist’s payment posed a corruption risk. Benjamin Wegg-Prosser. Photo: Martin Argles/The Guardian Lawyers for Global Counsel said the company was not involved in any deal between Uber and the Russian lobby. They stressed that Global Counsel “expressly denies any suggestion” that it is in violation of any anti-corruption laws. However, the files highlight Mandelson and Wegg-Prosser, a former communications adviser to Blair, and their relationships with people who allegedly benefited from maintaining close ties to the Kremlin.

“We want someone aligned with Putin”

In early 2015, as Uber faced significant headwinds in Russia and found itself with few friends, Wegg-Prosser met Uber executives based in Moscow and impressed them with his address book. “Use this Wegg-Prosser guy on request for his contacts and access,” one executive advised. Weeks later, Mandelson visited Uber’s international headquarters in Amsterdam to discuss how Global Counsel could help the company, sealing a close working relationship with Uber’s chief lobbyist in Europe, Mark MacGann. The relationship would generate nearly £200,000 in fees for Global Counsel between 2015 and 2016, documents say, as Uber often turned to Mandelson and Wegg-Prosser for help in Russia and advice on its lobbying strategy across Europe. In 2015, Uber was looking for “strategic allies” in Russia and had begun reaching out to politically connected oligarchs it believed could help lobby the company’s interests. Emil Michael, one of Uber’s top executives at the time, had described the company’s goal to colleagues: “We want someone aligned with Putin.” For advice on navigating Russia’s business elites, Uber turned to Mandelson and Wegg-Prosser. Both knew Moscow well. At the time, Mandelson sat on the board of one of Russia’s biggest conglomerates, while Wegg-Prosser – a former journalist who worked for the Guardian between 2000 and 2005 – had worked as a senior executive at a Russian media company. When Uber closed a $200 million investment deal with a company controlled by Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven in 2016, Wegg-Prosser recommended establishing a “hotline” with the two oligarchs. That was something he could help with, he said, taking pride in his ability to speak directly to Aven over the phone. An Uber car in the center of Moscow. Photo: Nikolay Vinokurov/AlamyFile The records show that Mandelson also played a role in helping Uber secure a meeting in April 2016 with Aven to discuss how the former minister – who at the time attended frequent meetings with Putin – could help the company to overcome the political issues it was facing in Russia. Afterwards, Wegg-Prosser thanked Aven for a “very reassuring” meeting. Months later, as he helped Uber prepare a trip by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to Moscow, Wegg-Prosser turned to Aven again, this time with a “cheeky,” though ultimately unsuccessful, request: would could he fix a meeting between Kalanick and Putin’s chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov? “Will you be able to make a call/connect us?” Wegg-Prosser asked. Mandelson followed, thanking Aven for his support. Aven told the Guardian he knew Wegg-Prosser “very well” and spoke to him often, but the oligarch said he stayed out of politics and was not involved in Uber’s Russian lobbying efforts. In a statement, Uber said its current leadership “rejects any past relationships with anyone associated with the Putin regime.” Access wasn’t all Wegg-Prosser and Mandelson offered. Documents show the pair advised Uber on the realities of doing business in Moscow and the sensitivities of operating in often opaque waters. When Uber agreed to make a large payment to Fridman and Aven’s influential lobbyist Vladimir Senin, Uber’s lawyers raised concerns that the payment risked violating US anti-bribery laws. The issue is said to have caused significant “internal strife” at Uber, but Wegg-Prosser was on hand to advise on how to handle the situation. He initially said he would not be “comfortable” with paying Senin, but also appeared dismissive when Uber’s lawyers put forward a series of proposals to insert anti-corruption provisions into Senin’s contract. In an email to Uber’s MacGann, who asked his views on the proposals, Wegg-Prosser wrote: “I see this all the time from stupid US lawyers who think the world should run like a suburb of Seattle.” He said the idea of ​​requiring the oligarch lobbyist to complete compliance training “will make you look ridiculous. You just need a contract that says they bear the risk.’ The records indicate that despite his earlier discomfort, Wegg-Prosser at one stage became involved in discussions about the payment and personally assured Aven that the lobbyist had received a financial reward. “I spoke to Aven today with Senin,” Wegg-Prosser told a senior Uber executive in July 2016. “I explained that Uber v was grateful for Senin’s support, but I had put the job on hold. Said Senin was properly paid for his support (I mentioned the number). Aven said he knew, he was happy to hear it was moving in the right direction and he knew Uber had done the right thing.” Senin did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Dinner of influencers

Mandelson and Wegg-Prosser advised Uber that there was a bigger prize than the Fridman and Aven relationship. They urged the company to cultivate Herman Gref, the chief executive of state-controlled Sberbank and a key Moscow broker. “In the long run, Gref is more important,” Wegg-Prosser told Uber. Herman Gref. Photograph: Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters A former economy minister under Putin, Gref had earned a reputation as a powerful but liberal adviser in the president’s ruling circle. The pair first worked together in St Petersburg in the 1990s. In March, the US imposed sanctions on Gref, labeling him a “close associate of Putin”. Gref did not respond to requests for comment. According to internal messages exchanged between Uber’s interest groups, Mandelson arranged a key meeting with the state banker in Moscow in July 2015. The following year, when Gref attended Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco, Global Counsel was described by MacGann as the “architect” of the visit. Before…