Peter Mandelson and Oleg Deripaska (update)

This story will drag on and on until the whole truth emerges and Peter Mandelson has to leave this Labour government for the third time.

Recently we learned

"that Peter Mandelson decided not to disclose any relationship with the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, in his first declaration of his interests to parliament, it has emerged today.His declaration, published in the latest edition of the Lords Register of Interests released online, omits any reference to the aluminium magnate he met at a dinner in Corfu this year organised by Mandelson's friend, Nat Rothschild, the Tory donor"

On 9 November The Times revealed that (my emphasis):

"Lord Mandelson did discuss European Union trade issues with Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch, despite his denials that they had ever talked about the subject.

The business secretary, who at the time was the EU’s trade commissioner, wanted to know whether Deripaska supported or opposed tariffs on Russian timber exports to Europe.

Mandelson has said he never discussed EU matters with Deripaska. However, a source close to Deripaska said they had discussed wood tariffs, the subject of EU talks with Russian officials.

Last week, in a statement to The Sunday Times, Peter Power, Mandelson’s spokesman, confirmed that Mandelson had discussed timber tariffs with Deripaska but said they had never talked about aluminium tariffs.

He said Mandelson’s claim that he had “never” discussed EU matters with Deripaska related only to the time he was on Corfu.

The timber duties were the subject of talks between the EU and Russia, and Deripaska’s views were important because he controls one of his country’s biggest wood processing and lumber companies.

...

In an interview on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, Mandelson insisted that any scrutiny of his links to Deripaska should focus on “what happened in the conversations” between the two men.

He said: “In these conversations with this gentleman there was no discussion of EU trade business; there was no discussion about tariffs or antidumping duties.” After the story broke about Mandelson’s links to Deripaska, Power said the business secretary had “never had a discussion with Mr Deripaska, or anyone else from his company, about aluminium duties or any other matter relating to the EU”."

Do you spot the moving of goalposts?

The phrase that really caught my eye was in The Telegraph:

"The Business Secretary has always insisted that his links to Mr Deripaska are above board, although he refuses to disclose full details of their contacts, saying that their talks are a private matter."

A "private matter", interesting... Was Peter Mandelson meeting Oleg Deripaska as a private individual or as a representative of the EU? I would like to know who paid for his transport to and from the meeting and his hotel accommodation; did he pay for it himself and not seek reimbursement from the EU or were the trips "on expenses"?

When will the BBC cover this story properly, or will they continue to pretend the story was all about George Osborne and that Peter Mandelson was cleared by an EU investigation? Has the EU really cleared Peter Mandelson of any wrongdoing? Are there any investigative reporters left at the BBC who are not digging into George Osborne, Caroline Spelman etc.

Finally, I note that George Osborne has published a full account of his meetings with the Russian billionaire, but Peter Mandelson has refused to follow suit, why?