Fast forward almost five years, and the two sides are at war, one which is both highly public and personal.
July, 2008:
Battle for TNK-BP turns into all-out war
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Russians claim control of TNK-BP as court battle looms
The Russian shareholders at war with BP claim to have seized majority control of the core board of joint venture TNK-BP.
Russia reaches investors’ tipping point after BP affair sours
"The last train carrying the optimists out of Russian equities has just left the station," was one reaction. "The place looks rotten to the core," was another.
BP chief Tony Hayward takes tough line against Russian partners
July 26, 2008
BP chief Tony Hayward takes tough line against Russian partners
BP threw down the gauntlet to its Russian partners yesterday, saying that the group would not be forced out of its troubled joint venture.
We intend to hold our ground and we are not going to be intimidated, Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP said in an interview with The Times.
But despite the rhetoric, Robert Dudley, TNK-BPs American chief executive, remains in hiding outside Russia as speculation grows that his abrupt departure was triggered by fears of imminent arrest. Mr Hayward said that he had been forced to leave because of a refusal by the Russian authorities to grant him a visa and investigations by state security agents.
TNK-BP row ‘is bad for Russia’ says British Foreign Office
Investors began to bail out of Russian-focused shares in London as concerns grew about the ability of Western companies to do business in the country.
Paying the price for Russia’s ‘loveable rogues’
Russian stocks are in freefall, spooked by threats of anti-trust inquiries by Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, falling oil prices and the chicanery over TNK-BP.
The retreat from Moscow
"ExxonMobil is the only one that could really pull it off but it is more logical for BP to do a merger of equals with Shell with Tony Hayward running both companies," Gheit added.
Head of BP Venture, Citing Harassment, Leaves Russia
People close to BP say TNK-BP's troubles stem from a Kremlin drive to transfer control of the company to a state entity like OAO Gazprom, leaving BP as a minority partner.
BP refuses to be intimidated by ‘strong-arm tactics’
Tony Hayward has a clear message for the Russian partners in TNK-BP, repeated several times in a conversation with the Financial Times last night: "We are not going to be intimidated by strong-arm tactics.
TNK-BP chief is ‘forced out’ of Russia
The beleaguered chief executive of BP's Russian oil joint venture abruptly left the country yesterday, blaming mounting uncertainties over his visa and "sustained harassment".
Licence to drill
BP's interest is understandable - obtaining visas for workers is somewhat easier stateside than in Russia. But ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell have also splashed out on North American gas properties.
Booming LNG demand helps boost BG Group
In the past four years, BG's shares have risen four-fold, while Royal Dutch Shell's have gone up 30 per cent, and BP's have been flat.
Hayward must urgently address the Russian farce, even if it means selling
Has the time come for BP to cut its losses, quit Russia altogether...
Riches in the Arctic: the new oil race
The future of the Arctic will be less white wilderness, more black gold, a new report on oil reserves in the High North has signalled this week. The first-comprehensive assessment of oil and gas resources north of the Arctic Circle, carried out by American geologists, reveals that underneath the ice, the region may contain as much as a fifth of the world's undiscovered yet recoverable oil and natural gas reserves.
In case you’d missed it, Britain is now at war with Russia.
The row between BP and AAR, its Russian partners, has dramatically escalated with the joint venture's chief executive fleeing Russia and going into hiding.
Bill Browder accuses Russian corporate raiders of $230m fraud
Mr Browder's allegations of institutional corruption strike at the heart of Russia's corporate minefield and further expose the difficulties of conducting business in a country already under fire for its treatment of multinational oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP.
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