Cherie Blair Is Working for a Russian Oligarch Who Is Now Suing British and Luxemburg Governments in Corporate Court

The UK is being sued by a Russian oligarch under controversial Investor State Dispute Settlement rules, the UK Government has confirmed.

The same oligarch is also suing the Government of Luxembourg with the help of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie Blair. She is not part of the action against the UK Government.

On Tuesday November 18, Chris Bryant, Secretary of State for Business and Trade told Parliament that Mikhail Fridman, a Russian oligarch and ally of Putin is suing the British Government under an ISDS provision, following a question from Martin Rhodes, the Labour MP for Glasgow North.

The rumour that an oligarch was suing the British Government under ISDS was reported in several outlets including Byline Times earlier this year, though Bryant’s answer in Parliament was the first time that the rumour, and the identity of the oligarch in question was confirmed publicly.

ISDS mechanisms contained in trade treaties are controversial because, according to critics, they allow corporations to override the decisions of sovereign governments by dragging states into very expensive, long running cases when multinationals or ultra-high net worth individuals feel they have lost out on potential profit.  

Fridman is understood to be using it to oppose sanctions placed on him following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Fridman, a Russian-Israeli dual national with interests across Europe, is also suing the Government of Luxembourg over its decision to sanction him following the outbreak of the Ukraine war. He is being represented in the €13.8 billion claim against Luxembourg, which is at an early stage in the proceedings, by several firms including Cherie Blair and Omnia Strategy, the law firm she co-founded.

 In May Douglas Alexander, who was then Minister of State for Business and Trade, met with the Tony Blair Institute to discuss trade strategy.

The lawsuit in the UK is likely to bring more attention to the Blair’s activities at a time when Tony Blair is under fire for his proposed role in Trump’s Gaza plan, and his lobbying of the British Government through the Tony Blair Institute.

This is the second ISDS case that the UK Government is having to contend with.

West Cumbria Mining is currently suing the UK Government after the proposal for a new coal mine was quashed by the high court.

A major investor in West Cumbria Mining, Woodhouse Investment Pte Ltd is a Singaporean firm and is also suing the Government through a bilateral investment treaty with Singapore signed in 1975.

Fridman previously attempted to appeal the sanctions placed against him by the British Government in the High Court, but the claim was dismissed in 2023.

He was initially sanctioned in March 2022 under the designation that he was a “pro-Kremlin oligarch”.

This designation was removed in 2023, however he remained sanctioned for deriving benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia through his position as director of Alfa Group.

Much of the criticism of the ISDS system relates to Western corporations overturning decisions made by poorer countries in the global South in attempts to control their own resources, though campaigners hope that Fridman’s use of ISDS legislation as a way to overturn sanctions can prompt the Government into changing tack.  

Tom Wills, Director of the Trade Justice Movement, described the revelation of Fridman’s lawsuit as “staggering” and said: “ISDS gives wealthy investors a private legal backdoor to challenge democratic decisions. Now we discover that this backdoor is being used by someone sanctioned for their links to the Russian regime”.

The UK is party to 79 trade and investment agreements containing the ISDS mechanism, and ministers have affirmed their support for the system despite these court cases, and the potential that regulatory sovereignty could be threatened through them.

Cleodie Rickard, trade campaign manager at Global Justice Now said: “This latest case against the UK Government highlights the huge threat that corporate courts pose not only to sovereignty and democracy, but to security”.

She added “this claim – alongside the second facing the UK for stopping a coal mine – should make it a no-brainer: the UK must follow other countries in getting rid of ISDS.”

Wills also called on the Government to “publish full details immediately and take urgent steps to end the UK’s exposure to ISDS”.

He told Byline Times that “this isn’t about reneging on international law or international treaties. It is completely within the scope of these treaties to withdraw from them, or to renegotiate them, or to work with partners to terminate them. It’s absolutely possible and it’s being done all the time globally”.

There is a growing awareness of and backlash to the ISDS system around the world. Last week at COP30, a variety of campaign groups and the Colombian Government highlighted the ISDS system as an obstacle to climate policy and sovereignty.

British investors are among the most aggressive users of the ISDS system according to Global ISDS tracker.

The UK Government is currently negotiating investment treaties with the Gulf states through the Gulf Cooperation Council, India and South Korea which are likely to contain the mechanism.

With an estimated net worth of $15.1 billion, Fridman ranks 170^th on the Forbes list of billionaires. He was one of the “seven bankers” a group of oligarchs that exercised significant control over the Russian economy in the 1990s and made his money during the privatisations that occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A spokesperson for Omnia Strategy said: “Neither Mrs Blair nor Omnia Strategy LLP is instructed by Mr Fridman in relation to proceedings against the United Kingdom and therefore we have no comment to make on that case or in respect of any matters where we are acting”.

The Department for Business and Trade have been contacted for comment.