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TNK-BP Shareholders’ Conflict Admitted
BP has confirmed that there is a conflict between the British and Russian shareholders in TNK-BP. According to unofficial information, the Russian side sees the resolution of that conflict in the replacement of TNK-BP president Robert Dudley by shareholder Viktor Vekselberg. BP owns 50 percent of the company. The Russian shareholders are Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova. The shareholders are split over the policy for the company’s foreign expansion and dividends. BP holds that the company has a competitive advantage in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Venezuela, but it opposes expansion in Iraq due to the huge risks involved. (Projects in Uganda, Syria and Libya are also under discussion.) Also, BP wants to reinvest most of the company’s profit in the development of projects in Russia. The Russian partners want to receive high dividends from it.
The first talk of disquiet among the shareholders emerged a year ago. TNK-BP employees say that the company’s operations are complicated by a system of double supervision, with Russian and British managers being in charge of the same functions. The company itself was a compromise, after many years of conflict between BP and TNK.
Tensions have mounted this year. First, 148 BP employees working at TNK-BP experienced problems with their visas and work permits. Then, after that problem was solved, some of them were not allowed into the TNK-BP building by its management. Then some of them were deprived of the right to work as a result of a suit filed by ZAP Tetlis that disputed their right to work in Russia. In April, TNK-BP executive director German Khan filed an application for a quota of 63 foreign workers for July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009. Several days later, TNK-BP president Dudley filed an application for 150 work places. Later, Dudley wrote a letter in support of his application called Khan’s application “an attempt at confusion.” Dudley made the conflict in the company’s management known in an interview in Vedomosti newspaper after BP CEO Tony Hayward met with Russian shareholders Viktor Vekselberg (Renova) and Mikhail Fridman (Alfa Group). They expressed the desire to see Dudley replaced. Hayward is said to have rejected the idea.
Observers say that changing the president will not solve the conflict and one of the sides may have to leave the company. Although both sides may have convincing arguments before the Russian authorities, the most likely contender for TNK-BP is Gazprom, which is likely to prefer to work with BP, because the British company offers it more opportunities for international expansion.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 27, 2008
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