BP chairman says Russian partners 'raiding' joint venture

AFP, June, 2008

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — The chairman of British energy giant BP charged Thursday that the company's Russian partners were "raiding" their oil joint venture TNK-BP and that Moscow was doing nothing to stop them.

"This is just a return to the corporate raiding activities that were prevalent in Russia in the 1990s," Peter Sutherland said in an address at an International Chamber of Commerce World Business Summit in Stockholm.

"Prime Minister (Vladimir) Putin has referred to these tactics as relics of the 1990s, but unfortunately our partners continue to use them," he added.

TNK-BP is jointly controlled by BP and three Russian financiers, Viktor Vekselberg, Mikhail Fridman and Len Blavatnik.

Fridman reacted angrily to the accusation, saying the comments were...