Allen & Overy (A&O) senior partner David Morley and Eversheds managing partner Lee Ranson are to join Prime Minister David Cameron on a much-touted trade delegation to Russia.

The two law firm leaders have been invited by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to join a delegation of senior business figures traveling to Russia next week with Cameron.

More than 20 companies will be represented by executives on the two-day visit including BP, Rolls-Royce and the London Stock Exchange. Cameron is expected to meet Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and president Dimitry Medvedev during the trip.

Morley commented: "We welcome the opportunity to join the Prime Minister's delegation in visiting Russia to meet with business and political leaders to discuss the issues surrounding trade and business opportunities between our two countries."

A&O has had a presence on the ground in Moscow since 1993, which currently has around 100 lawyers. Eversheds does not have a Moscow arm, though it has previously looked at a local launch.

Ranson told Legal Week that his invitation reflected Eversheds' interest in the local market. He commented: "We are looking very hard at the Russian market. We have a lot of activity in the region and a lot of clients are asking us to do something there."

The invitation is a relatively rare example of commercial lawyers attending official trade delegations, though former Clifford Chance senior partner Stuart Popham last year attended a trip with Cameron to India. Popham had in 2008 also joined then Prime Minister Gordon Brown on trade visits to China and India.

The high-profile UK trade delegation – the first to Russia since Tony Blair led a group to Moscow five years ago – has been touted as helping to repair strained Anglo-Russian relations. Diplomatic and business links between the two countries have come under pressure thanks to the assassination of a former Russian spy in London in 2006 and more recent controversies surrounding BP's interests in Russia.

"It's an important visit from the perspective of our relationship with Russia and the Bric economies," added Ranson. "[UKTI] will be looking at how British companies are doing business in Russia, what works and what doesn't work so well. But the links are strong. Russians like doing business in the UK – more than that, they like London, they like the schools and they like the environment."

The news comes after A&O recently concluded a client survey of 1,000 business leaders around the world, with 60% of Russian executives questioned 'reasonably confident' about their business' prospects in the next 24 months, comparing favourably to an average of 44% globally.

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