RusEnergy

Scandinavian Oil&Gas Magazine – 08–15–2008 – BP said in a statement Friday it was “very disappointed” a Moscow judge had cancelled TNK-BP’s chief executive Robert Dudley’s right to work in Russia for two years on “labour-law violations”. But the supermajor asserted Dudley had the parent company’s full support while continuing in his job from abroad pending an appeal. The news from a Moscow courtroom came amid recent and planned meetings between BP and its TNK-BP partners, the heads of Alfa, Access and Renova. Their joint company has produced record results of late and had recently made a number of billion-dollar infrastructure investments. Th partners have been at lagerheads over Dudley’s alleged failure to alter his policies to respect the Russian partners’s concerns. Russian owners had demanded his ouster just as employees rose in revolt over alleged “descriminatory policies” and both pointed to an expired job contract. A BP spokesman confirmed the days developments and told Scandoil.com that among TNK-BP top management, eight are foreigners and six are Russian business leaders. Two of TNK-BP’s four main businesses — including the key upstream business — are headed by Russians. BP has threatened to use “all means” inside and outside of Russia to defend its interests as 50 percent shareholder in TNK-BP.