New Century Media

In 2013, Burnside sponsored a table at the Conservatives’ exclusive summer party, where his guests included Vladimir Putin’s wealthy judo partner, Vasily Shestakov. It is understood that Shestakov was not a client of New Century Media. His lobbying firm also paid £10,000 a month to a former Kremlin adviser, Alexander Nekrassov, to act as a consultant. Nekrassov was widely seen as a ‘Putin apologist’ and was prolific in spreading disinformation. In 2018, he said there was “no evidence” that Moscow was behind the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal with the nerve agent Novichok. He also tried to cast doubt on Russia’s 2006 assassination of Alexander Litvinenko. Before his death in 2020, Nekrassov made connections with prominent figures in British politics and business. In one case, businessman and Brexit donor Arron Banks claimed Nekrassov was “willing to help us from any angle in the Leave campaign” and could be “a valuable asset”. Nekrassov’s son – who is also called Alex – remains a senior consultant for New Century Media, where he has advised British oil giant BP on its “reputation management strategy” over its stake in Rosneft, the Russian state oil company. In February, BP offloaded that stake following Russia’s “act of aggression” in Ukraine. Rosneft’s chief executive Igor Sechin was also hit by UK sanctions this month, with the government describing him as “Putin’s right-hand man”. Lobbying clients New Century Media has previously represented a number of Russian-linked firms and oligarchs – including Vladimir Makhlai and Ukrainian-born Dmytro Firtash. But the company told openDemocracy it has never introduced any Russian clients to government ministers. Firtash has brokered gas deals with the Kremlin and was sanctioned by Ukraine last year over alleged business links to Russian defence firms. He is also wanted by the FBI on corruption charges. Records show New Century Media provided Makhlai, a Russian billionaire who fled to Britain in 2005, with “reputation management” and “personal introductions” to individuals in politics, as part of a £900,000-a-year contract. But when the relationship broke down, Burnside successfully sued him in the High Court. The firm has also represented the Kazakh mining giant, Eurasian Resources Group. One of the group’s directors, Patokh Chodiev, was awarded the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation at a special ceremony in the Kremlin in 2020. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/new-century-media-david-burnside-lobying-oligarchs-access-parliament-pass/