Cherie Blair, the oil tycoon and jobs for Blairites in poor Albania
The Balkan country is proving a fruitful source of work for Blairites with a legal contract for Mrs Blair and a job for Alastair Campbell's nephew in the office of the Albanian PM
Robert Mendick By Robert Mendick, and Besar Likmeta in Albania8:30AM BST 11 May 2014
On the face of it, Albania, once the most hardline of Stalinist states and still one of the poorest countries in Europe, seems unlikely to hold much attraction for Tony Blair.
But The Telegraph can disclose that the Balkan country, recently discovered to be abundant in oil and gas, appears to be providing rich pickings for a dynasty of Blairites.
This newspaper has already disclosed how Mr Blair is a consultant to Albania’s Labour government. Now it has emerged that his wife Cherie picked up a lucrative legal contract with the previous government; while even the nephew of Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair’s former spin doctor, has landed himself a job advising the new Albanian prime minister.
Mrs Blair was awarded a contract worth £300,000 to advise the Albanian government after making friends with the wife of the Balkan country’s then prime minister while in Downing Street.
Mrs Blair, best known in the legal world as a human rights lawyer, acted for Albania in a billion dollar oil dispute with an American energy firm.
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Mr Blair subsequently became an adviser to the current Albanian government. James Naish, Mr Campbell’s 25-year-old nephew, also works as an adviser in the office of Edi Rama, Albania’s prime minister.
The previous Albanian government appointed Omnia Strategy, Mrs Blair’s law firm, to act on its behalf in the oil dispute. Albania’s legal costs were a little over $500,000 – about £300,000. It is not clear how much of the total costs were owed to Omnia Strategy for its work.
In a press release issued after the case – which Albania won – Mrs Blair said: “Omnia Strategy is very pleased it was able to assist the government of Albania in successfully defending this arbitration.”
Mrs Blair is thought to have first visited Albania in 2010 as the guest of Liri Berisha, the wife of the prime minister at the time, Sali Berisha.
Mrs Blair flew to the impoverished country in a private jet owned by Rezart Taci, an oil tycoon, and one of Albania’s richest men.
Mr Taci had been accused of using his political connections – including his friendship with Mr Berisha – to acquire Albania’s sole oil refinery. Mr Taci has since sold the refinery.
The oil dispute revolved around a contract signed between the Albanian government and Sky Petroleum, a Texas-based oil company, which claimed to have exclusive rights to explore for oil in three swathes of land in southern and central Albania. Authorities in Albania terminated the contract in a row over bank guarantees and Sky Petroleum began legal action, seeking $1 billion (£600 million) damages.
Omnia Strategy began acting in the oil dispute on behalf of Albania at the end of 2012. The decision to appoint her came two years after her trip to Tirana, Albania’s capital, as a guest of Mr Taci and Mrs Berisha in July 2010. Albania terminated its contract with Sky Petroleum in June 2010.
At the time of Mrs Blair’s visit to Albania, a spokesman for her said she had accepted free flights from Mr Taci, a controversial figure in Albania now under investigation for alleged money laundering, to enable her to fit in more engagements in the Balkan state because of a tight timescale.
On the trip, she cut a ribbon inaugurating a television station which Mr Taci had acquired. On the same fleeting visit, she also toured a charity for autistic children set up by Mrs Berisha.
At the time, Mrs Blair’s spokesman said: “Mrs Blair was invited to Albania by Mrs Berisha, the wife of the prime minister, who wanted her to visit the charity for autistic children that she had set up in Tirana.
“The two women first met in 2006 when Mrs Berisha visited Downing Street with her husband and they discovered they shared an interest in children with special needs.”
Mrs Berisha’s husband was still prime minister when Omnia Strategy – which had at that stage been in operation for a year – won the tender for the lucrative job of representing Albania in the legal dispute.
The hearing took place over the course of a week at the London Court of International Arbitration in March 2013. Last May the panel of judges who heard the case ruled in Albania’s favour, awarding costs against Sky Petroleum in the process. Albania’s legal costs, according to a report filed by Sky Petroleum with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, came to more than $500,000.
Julia Yun Hulme, managing director of Omnia Strategy, said: “Omnia Strategy was appointed to the case through a bidding invitation process as per Albanian procedures. Omnia Strategy’s involvement in the case was not linked to the July 2010 trip. Omnia Strategy LLP was incorporated in October 2011.”
While Mrs Blair’s law firm has profited from the previous Albanian government, her husband enjoys a close friendship with Mr Rama, Mr Berisha’s successor as prime minister. Mr Blair, as previously disclosed by The Telegraph, has been hired as an adviser by Mr Rama to help with its governance and in its bid to join the European Union.
Mr Blair has denied being paid for his work by the Albanian government although it is not clear if a third party is paying him for his services. It is also unclear who employs Mr Naish, the son of Mr Campbell’s sister. Mr Naish, an Oxford University graduate, describes himself as an adviser in the “Prime Minister’s Office, Albania” on the professional networking site LinkedIn but last week the Albanian government insisted he was not an official adviser
