The Financial Times has revealed close links between senior figures in the British establishment and their lucrative ties to the Russian business world.

 

1. Lord Skidelsky, a prominent peer who sits on the board of Rusnano Capital, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nanotechnology corporation. You can check out the info for yourself on http://www.rncapital.ch/index.php/board-of-directors.html. Rusnano Capital was was established in 2010 for the purpose of fund management and corporate control of RUSNANO investment. Among its priorities are innovative technology transfer to Russia and attracting foreign investment capital for co-investment in Russia’s nanotechnology projects. Total assets under the management of RUSNANO Capital are worth $ 1 billion.

 

An economics historian of Russian origin, Skidelsky promised to stay unless the Kremlin takes more expansionist steps.

 

2. Lord Mandelson, business secretary under the last Labour government, is an independent director on the board of AFK Sistema which claims to be the largest publicly-traded diversified holding company in Russia and the CIS. Incorporated in 1993, Sistema is now one of Russia's top ten companies by revenue and is one of the largest investment companies in the world. The group owns a diverse set of public and private companies. Mandelson has been elected as member of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee and Investor Relations and Dividend Policy Committee.

 

3. Lord Myners, member of the board of directors at MegaFon, one of Russia’s three major mobile operators, with the number of active subscribers exceeding 63 million people. On the board since March 2013, he is Chairman of the Remuneration and HR Development Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.

 

According to The Financial Times, Myners dismissed any involvement of his company in Crimea and pledged to protect the interests of western companies owning MegaFon shares.

 

4. Lord Owen, the former foreign secretary, has served as consultant to two companied owned by Alisher Usmanov, Russia’s richest man, with a fortune of $17.5 billion.

 

The Financial Times said Lord Owen did not believe in further sanctions but would act accordingly should they be introduced.

 

5. Charles Hendry, a Conservative energy minister from 2010 to 2012, is president of the advisory board of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce and consultant to Vitol, “an oil trader with a supply contract with the Russian energy giant Rosneft”, according to The Financial Times.

 

Sources: http://www.vedomosti.ru http://www.ft.com