Alexander Stubb (NCP) and his close aides met representatives of ride-hailing company Uber several times between 2015 and 2016, when Stubb served as prime minister and finance minister, according to leaked documents seen by Yle’s investigative unit MOT.
Yle reported on Monday that the files shared by Uber were leaked International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)revealed how the company lobbied the Finnish government to change longstanding taxi industry laws.
In Uber’s internal documents, Stubb is also considered a supporter of the company.
"Alexander went to school in the US and he really knows his stuff. He wants to free the market," an Uber spokesperson wrote in Stubb’s review.
Uber representatives met with Stubb and his assistant when the company lobbied to reform Finland’s taxi laws.
Stubb’s Correspondence Mark McGannwho was then Uber’s chief lobbyist, continued in September 2016 after the government had tabled its proposal to reform the taxi law.
MacGann has also come forward As the source of ICIJ’s nearly 125,000 pages of leaked emails, texts and internal documents from the tech company.
In addition to Stubb, Uber representatives met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Olli-Pekka Heinonen twice as well as with the then prime minister’s aide in 2015 and 2016, during the tech company’s lobbying efforts.
As Uber continued to lobby, Stubb resigned as Prime Minister after losing his position as chairman of the Coalition Party, although he continued as an MP.
The lobbyist offered Stubbs a list of companies and positions
In their various conversations and meetings, MacGann told Stubb that he had connections with major international companies and that he could get the former prime minister the coveted cabinet position.
MacGann provided a list of major investment firms, including Carlyle, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), and Bridgewater Associates, that he considered suitable for Stubbs. The former prime minister responded by sending the lobbyist his resume.
"These are companies I know; where I think it would suit you well; where I believe the reputation you have built would do no harm; and where (in most cases) I have direct and personal access to the top, allowing me to make subtle inquiries," lobbyist MacGann wrote in an email to Stubb.
The final list included several major tech companies, including Spotify, Apple, Facebook, Airbnb and MacGann’s company, Uber.
In the end, Stubb did not belong to the boards of any company, and in June 2017 the Finnish government appointed him as the Deputy CEO of the European Investment Bank. Today, Stubb is director and professor at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
Stubb: Unrelated matters
According to Stubb, his contact with MacGann is between two private individuals, adding that the MOT investigation connects "two separate things that have nothing to do with each other".
In his response to the MOT, MacGann confirmed that Stubb did not ask the former Uber executive to contact any company or its representatives.
"He wanted to hear my views and opinions about what he could do professionally after leaving politics," MacGann told MOT.
MacGann played a key role in Uber’s political lobbying in Finland and several other European countries.