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Monday, 08 September, 2008, 17:50 GMT | more prices >>

TNK-BP partners take aim at Dudley



By Upstream staff 

BP’s Russian partners in TNK-BP are planning to attempt to unseat the joint venture’s chief executive, Robert Dudley, at an extraordinary board meeting called for Monday, media reports today said.

The Moscow meeting was called by Viktor Vekselberg, one of four Russian billionaires with stakes in TNK-BP, to address repeated infringements by Mr Dudley of Russian employment, migration and tax laws”, London’s Times newspaper quoted a statement by the AAR consortium, which represents the Russian shareholders, as saying.

BP has rejected the move as a publicity stunt, saying it had full confidence in Dudley’s leadership, the paper said.

News of the meeting came after Russian authorities said they would approve permits for 49 foreign senior executives at TNK-BP, including Dudley, after fears that the managers would be forced to leave Russia later this month.

The authorities said the visas would be processed within 10 days, the Times said.

TNK-BP has been subjected to raids on its offices, tax probes and environmental investigations in recent months as part of a struggle between UK-based supermajor BP and Russian billionaires Vekselberg, Len Blavatnik, Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, over the direction of the venture.

The Russians together control 50% of TNK-BP. They have accused Dudley of favouring BP's interests in strategic decisions for the company.


Thursday, 03 July, 2008, 03:25 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 03 July, 2008, 05:48 GMT

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