Mandelson: No favours for Deripaska

LORD MANDELSON today admitted liking some business chiefs more than others but insisted he had done no favours for Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska.

The Business Secretary, though, continued to maintain his deafening silence over his full links to the aluminium magnate who entertained him on his £80million yacht off Corfu this summer.

He stressed that part of his job as EU Trade Commissioner, before he was recalled to the Cabinet this month, was to meet business figures in emerging economies.

"You can't hope to do business and promote European interests in those economies unless you are meeting people across the range," he told The Guardian. "So in some cases, you will like some more than others, you will meet some more than others, you will make acquaintanceships with some.

"That doesn't mean to say that a conflict of interest arises. And in this case it didn't."

As EU Trade Commissioner, Lord Mandelson signed off a relaxation of aluminium tariffs in December 2005 which benefited Mr Deripaska's business. The EC has stressed that the peer broke no rules on conflicts of interest.

Lord Mandelson told the newspaper that in his dealings with Mr Deripaska: "... I offered no favours and received no favours."