Raided: TNK-BP's headquarters on the Arbat in central Moscow
Russian police raid TNK-BP's HQ
Russian police raided the headquarters of BP's Russian vehicle TNK-BP today as part of a long-running criminal investigation, sparking new concern about the future of the venture.
"The documents are being removed from the (company) as part of a criminal investigation relating to Sidanco," a spokeswoman for the interior ministry's investigation committee told Reuters.
Sidanco formed part of TNK-BP in 2003, when BP and a group of Russian billionaire investors decided to combine assets to create what is now Russia's third-largest oil producing company.
A lock-up on TNK-BP's founder shareholders selling up expired in January and market speculation has intensified that the Kremlin wants one of its companies, such as state gas monopoly Gazprom, to buy out the Russian shareholders.
The confirmation from the ministry came after industry sources told Reuters law enforcement agencies had started searches this morning by blocking the entrance to TNK's building on the Arbat in central Moscow.
One industry source said the probe was investigating "a suspected small-scale fraud rather than anything political". The staff was notified about searches by email this morning.
The company declined to comment.
The Russian shareholders in TNK-BP have repeatedly denied that they have plans to sell their stakes.
Russian law enforcement agencies were also searching the Moscow office of oil major BP, according to Reuters.
In February, police raided the headquarters of Slavneft, which TNK-BP co-owns with Gazprom, and also confiscated documents in a five-year-old tax evasion investigation.