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TNK-BP shrugs off 'one-off' raid

Russian producer TNK-BP, half-owned by BP, said today it considered recent raids by security services officers and the arrest of an employee as one-off incidents, not a broad attack on the company.

Company boss Robert Dudley also said he expected to close a long-awaited deal with Russian state gas giant Gazprom around the huge Kovykta deal at the end of April, saying he was not aware of any bigger deal involving the buyout of TNK-BP itself.

"We are back to business. The (security) officials came to us and said they came to look at commercial documents taken from a state hydrocarbon company. They were very professional. They did the right thing," reuters quoted him as saying.

TNK-BP, co-owned by BP and a group of Russian billionaires, is subject to long-running speculation that the Kremlin wants the Russian owners to sell it to a state firm to further tighten the state grip on the energy sector.

Many analysts interpreted the raids by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the subsequent arrest of an employee of TNK-BP on suspicion of industrial espionage, as a sign the Kremlin is stepping up pressure on TNK-BP and its owners.

Dudley said these problems were "a matter around individuals".

Gazprom is seen as the most likely buyer of the Russian billionaires' stake in TNK-BP, although they have repeatedly denied they plan to sell out. TNK-BP is the largest single British investment in Russia.

Dudley said he has not heard from either BP nor the Russian shareholders about plans to sell their stakes.

"Commitment to invest continues at the same levels from both BP and TNK-BP," he said, adding that the Kovykta deal was nearing.

TNK-BP, Gazprom and BP are involved in protracted talks over the creation of a global joint venture on the basis of the Kovykta gas field, which belongs to TNK-BP but which Gazprom agreed to buy last summer after months of state pressure on TNK-BP.

"I remain hopeful as I think the chairman of Gazprom has also suggested that by the end of April we hope to close the (Kovykta) deal," said Dudley.

He declined to disclose the price, which was initially ranging between $600 million and $900 million, but said TNK-BP was sticking to "historical" price of $1 billion.

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