Uber hired oligarch-linked Russian lobbyist despite bribery fears

The deal was part of a concerted effort by the Silicon Valley company to court several billionaires as well as top state officials allegedly aligned with Vladimir Putin in an attempt to secure its place in the Russian market.

With few friends in Moscow and no Russian investors, Uber initially turned to Roman Abramovich before securing deals with companies controlled by the billionaires Alisher Usmanov, Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, as well as Herman Gref, the head of the major state-controlled Russian bank Sberbank.

In return, Uber wanted political support.

Documents show that in the months that followed, a strategy emerged: find an oligarch or someone with sufficient clout who could invest in Uber, incentivising them to serve as a political ally in Moscow.

Abramovich, who has denied claims about his proximity to Putin, did not respond to repeated requests for comment from the Guardian.

On the fringes of the 2016 World Economic Forum, Kalanick squeezed in a crucial meeting at the palatial five-star Belvedere hotel with an emissary from LetterOne (L1), a private investment vehicle controlled by Fridman.

With his fellow oligarch Aven, Fridman ran Alfa Group, a sprawling Russian conglomerate. The pair had accumulated vast fortunes in the economic chaos after the fall of the Soviet Union. Helpfully, they were by now deeply integrated in the western financial system.

Although the state-controlled bank was the subject of limited US sanctions at the time, Uber judged it was permitted to receive the funds.

Despite the risks, Uber pressed forward and in May 2016 initially agreed to pay Senin as much as $650,000.

Eventually the taxi legislation ran into trouble and did not pass. The failure prompted doubts about Senin, and Uber paid him a reduced sum of $300,000 for his work.

Senin did not respond to multiple requests for comment.