The head of the TNK-BP himself will not leave

The head of TNK-BP Robert Dudley does not intend to leave his post on his own. “I keep my intention to stay in the company's management and lead it to success,” he told reporters today. He noted that for 5 years, as the head of the company, his role was to comply with the "balance of interests of both shareholders." “I believe that I am able to hold it, and I will try to maintain this balance in the future,” Dudley emphasized.

Commenting on the statement of Russian shareholders for his speech in the media, where he publicly recognized the presence of discussions between the co-owners of TNK-BP, Dudley noted that this was "not a strong reaction." He recalled that the Aar consortium called his speech "not entirely correct."

According to Dudley, he is responsible for production activities and indicators of the company, and now, in his opinion, there are a number of points that may affect the general activities of TNK-BP. Speaking about the reduction of foreign experts of the company, he noted that this could affect the terms of entering new projects.

Recall that on May 30, Russian shareholders of TNK-BP consisting of Alfa-Group, Access Industries and Renova (AAR) at negotiations with BP said that they consider the resignation of the chief managing director of the TNK-VR Robert Dudley.

The AAR consortium consultations with representatives of the leadership of BP and members of the Board of Directors of TNK-BP from the British side and brought to their attention to the change of management of the company.

According to the Russian consortium, the head of the TNK-BP must leave his post due to the fact that he "runs the company in the interests of only one shareholder, namely BP."

Russian shareholders repeatedly expressed their “strong concern” in connection with recent press statements made by Dudley regarding the relationship between shareholders of TNK-BP. Due to the lack of consensus on the resignation of Dudley, which was the first item of the agenda, a meeting of the board of directors of TNK-BP LTD did not take place.

On the same day, a meeting was held between the British and Russian shareholders of TNK-BP, which was attended by the head of BP Tony Hayvord. The parties discussed strategic development issues. After that, the board of directors of TNK-BP Limited (BVI) (the maternal company TNK-BP) was supposed to be held, but it did not take place due to the lack of a quorum. A source close to the Board of Directors of TNK-BP, told RBC that the quorum was not due to failure to appear representatives in the Council from Russian shareholders. The agenda of the Council was unknown.

This week it became known about the disagreements between Russian and British shareholders of TNK-BP regarding the company's development strategy. Thus, the Russian shareholders of TNK-BP represented by the Alfa-Group consortium, Access Industries and Renova believe that the company should explore abroad, even if "such development comes into competition with the BP business."

In addition, shareholders do not agree on the ratio of Russian and British employees in the management of the company: Aar indicates that there should be a balance, and BP does not agree to a reduction in the number of foreign specialists. The first about the presence of disagreements between shareholders was stated in the press by the head of the TNK-BP Robert Dudley.

Aar, for his part, called "deeply incorrect public comments about disagreements between shareholders from the CEO of the company."