Uber lobbyist offers Stubb positions in big firms

Chief lobbyist of taxi operating company Uber Mark MacGann reportedly held several meetings with the then Prime Minister, Alexander Stubb and offered him positions in different big international companies, reported national broadcaster Yle on Tuesday, quoting the leaked files from Uber, shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The offers were made in between 2015 and 2016, when Stubb served as the Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Finland and the Finnish government moved to bring reform in the taxi law.

According to the Uber's internal documents, Stubb is also considered to be a supporter of the company.

The lobbyist pointed out the names of big investment firms such as Carlyle, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Bridgewater Associates telling that the companies are suitable for Stubb.

Stubb replied by sending the lobbyist his resume.

Although Uber continued its lobbying, Stubb stepped down as Prime Minister after losing his post as the Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) Chief.

Stubb, however, claimed that his contact with MacGann was between two private individuals and the MOT investigation is connecting "two separate issues that have nothing to do with each other," according to the Yle report.

Earlier on Monday Yle, referring to the leaked document reported that Uber had direct contact with officials at Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications who worked on the reforms.

Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland) lawmaker Anne Berner was the transport and communications minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä that time.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit network, searched over 100,000 items of Uber's internal communications in order to offer "an unprecedented look into the ways Uber defied taxi laws and upended workers' rights."

The documents at the heart of the investigation were first leaked to the UK newspaper The Guardian, which offered to share them with the consortium.

Meanwhile, the European Commission on Monday asked Neelie Kroes, the former EU digital chief, to submit more information about her alleged involvement in the Uber lobby.

Leaked files published a day earlier implied that Kroes, the former vice-president of the EU commission, helped the carsharing giant petition European politicians.

A data-based investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists alleged that Uber had built a secret lobbying operation of policymakers and politicians to push the company's agenda.

French President Emmanuel Macron is also under fire after a report release by France's Le Monde daily said that Uber came to a secret "deal" with Macron during his two-year tenure as economy minister between 2014 and 2016.