Mandelson took secretive flight on Russian oligarch's private jet whilst EU Trade Commissioner
Peter Mandelson is understood to have flown on the jet of Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, en route to a trade meeting on aluminium tariffs
Peter Mandelson took secret flights on a Russian oligarch's jet whilst working as European Union trade commissioner, it is understood.
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The flight took place in the early hours of November 25, 2004 - in Mandelson's first week in the role.
Mandelson was also named as the solitary male passenger on board the Gulfstream IV executive jet that touched down in Rotterdam, as well as crew of three.
Later that day, Mandelson attended the EU-Russia summit in The Hague.
At the time, President Vladimir Putin was leading his country’s delegation, after just returning to from a trade conference in Chile.
Among his entourage on the trip had been Oleg Deripaska, a youthful metals oligarch who would soon be described as Russia’s richest man, and the operator of a fleet of luxury aircraft.
One of the planes he controlled in November 2004 was a Bermudan-registered Gulfstream IV with the call sign VP-BNN - the aircraft which is understood to have taken Mandelson to the Netherlands.
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It remains unclear why the plane was used.
It is understood that the EU Commission has no record of this flight being declared by Mandelson, which should be standard procedure.
According to reports in the Daily Mail, who first broke the story, the plane collected Mandelson from Brussels, brought him to England for several hours, and then continued on with him to The Hague afterwards.
An anonymous member of the flight crew has claimed that Mandelson was particularly agitated ahead of the second leg.
They said they later understood the minister's anxiety stemmed from a planned discussion in The Hague about a tax on aluminium – which the oligarch had business in.
At the time Deripaska owned the world’s biggest aluminium producer, Rusal.
There is no evidence to suggest that anything was expected of Mandelson in return for the flight - although the EU’s subsequent cut in aluminium tariffs, which was discussed at the summit, hugely benefited both the Russian economy, and Deripaska personally.
At Deripaska's peak net worth, in 2008, he was said to have $28billion in assets - with many questions raised over how he acquired his fortune so rapidly.
The revelations come as Mandelson remains embroiled in a scandal over his connections to the convicted paedophile and disgraced financier, Jeffery Epstein.
The fallout from the release of hundreds of documents by the US Department of Justice, including photos and communication between the pair, has caused Mandelson to lose his position as envoy to the United States, as well as having to leave the House of Lords, and step down from the Labour Party.
The Metropolitan Police is also investigating Lord Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office after claims that he leaked confidential documents to Epstein.
LBC have approached Mandelson for comment.