HC Deb 20 February 1997 vol 290 cc727-8W
Mr. Wilson

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on his intervention with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister on behalf of Mr. Alan Lewis during the period when civil proceedings in the Russian courts were in progress. [15662]

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 13 February 1997]: I wrote to Russian Deputy Prime Ministers Bolshakov and Kazakov on 28 June 1996 following up a meeting of the UK—Russia Steering Committee on Trade and Investment which I had co-chaired with Mr. Bolshakov the previous month. The letter addressed the uncertainties that investors faced in Russia and our shared aim to create there an attractive investment climate, and referred to Illingworth Morris as an example.

I also wrote to Mr. Bolshakov on 4 December 1996 concerning negotiations involving other companies. Correspondence of this type is normally regarded as commercially confidential.

Throughout, all correspondence and contact with the Russian Government were based wholly on the advice of officials in my Department and at the British Embassy in Moscow. Neither I nor any other Minister or official corresponded with the Chief Justice of the Russian High Arbitration court over this case.

Mr. Wilson

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the occasions on which he has met Mr. Alan Lewis in an official capacity; and what subjects were discussed on each occasion. [15663]

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 13 February 1997]: In my official capacity as President of the Board of Trade I have met Mr. Lewis once. We discussed his company's business interests.

Mr. Madden

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what factors led him to write to the Russian Deputy Prime Minister on behalf of Illingworth Morris about negotiations in which the company was involved in Russia; if he will place copies of the relevant correspondence in the Library; in what other cases he has written to Russian Ministers concerning individual company negotiations in Russia; and if he will make a statement. [15697]

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 13 February 1997]: I wrote to Russian Deputy Prime Ministers Bolshakov and Kazakov on 28 June 1996 following up a meeting of the UK-Russia Steering Committee on Trade and Investment which I had co-chaired with Mr. Bolshakov the previous month. The letter addressed the uncertainties that investors faced in Russia and our shared aim to create there an attractive investment climate, and referred to Illingworth Morris as an example.

I also wrote to Mr. Bolshakov on 4 December 1996 concerning negotiations involving other companies.

Correspondence of this type is normally regarded as commercially confidential.

Throughout, all correspondence and contacts with the Russian Government were based wholly on the advice of officials in my Department and at the British Embassy in Moscow.