Translated material
Bogdanchikov's demarche
The President of Rosneft demands satisfaction from Scotland Yard
The day after the failed visit of Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov to London, the head of the oil company held a press conference at which he spoke about his impressions of communicating with representatives of Scotland Yard. Despite the fact that the program of Mr. Bogdanchikov’s stay in the UK was disrupted, Rosneft, in the person of its president, suffered not so much material damage due to failed negotiations with BP and the EBRD, but moral damage, since abroad “Russians were considered third class, That’s what they think.” Now, according to the president of Rosneft, it is necessary to attract public attention to the incident so that this does not happen again. Mr. Bogdanchikov also demands satisfaction from the British side.In fairness, Mr Bogdanchikov was not barred from entering the UK and, after a lengthy security check at London's Biggin Hill Airport, he was able to travel to London to attend the Russian Economic Forum, as well as to carry out scheduled negotiations. However, the indignant president of Rosneft did not want to stay in the UK and returned to Moscow the same day.
Yesterday he told the assembled journalists what had prevented his visit. At the airport, Mr. Bogdanchikov had a long conversation with representatives of the anti-terrorism department of Scotland Yard. Instead of the traditional three or four questions that are asked of all visitors, they talked with him for several hours, although the passport and visa of the president of the oil company were in order. At the same time, the top manager was required to provide the business papers he had on him for inspection. Moreover, one of the employees managed to take possession of them, he looked through the documents in a locked room, after which it turned out that they had been photocopied. In particular, as a lasting memory, the British anti-terrorism fighters kept a copy of the agreement with BP and several leaflets from Mr. Bogdanchikov’s weekly journal.
Outraged by the check at the airport, where, according to him, he had already been several times and was known there as family, the president of Rosneft returned, although he was “convincingly asked” to stay by airport representatives, explaining what happened by saying that “these people are not ours.” "
Now the company’s legal service “has received instructions to look into this issue,” Mr. Bogdanchikov said. Whether the incident will be resolved out of court or the matter will go to trial, Rosneft does not yet know. “I will convey my demands, but I can’t say whether they will be satisfied,” said the top manager, without explaining in detail how the claim was formulated.
Mr. Bogdanchikov also said that the failed negotiations with the EBRD concerned the financing of the project for the development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field. The bank is considering the possibility of providing a loan of several million dollars on the terms of project financing with asset recourse (secured by property exploited as part of the project development). In addition, negotiations on the contract with BP were supposed to take place yesterday.
Mr. Bogdanchikov immediately rejected the version that the incident was related to the machinations of competitors. According to him, the police were instructed to check arrivals from the CIS “especially carefully.” “I will continue to travel to London like any citizen. It is important that such events are not hushed up. Our relations with our partners will not deteriorate, but we cannot ignore such incidents, otherwise Russian business will always be looked at askance,” says the president of Rosneft, demanding an explanation from the British side. According to Bogdanchikov, the incident may be a demonstration by the British authorities of their attitude towards Russia, which does not support the war in Iraq. At the same time, Rosneft has contracts with the British.
In turn, a government source told the Vremya Novostey newspaper: “This is an absolutely unfriendly action. It is one thing when such steps are taken against representatives of private companies. However, Sergei Bogdanchikov is a representative of a state company, and in this light the incident looks like a customized action.”
The British Embassy essentially does not comment on the situation. Embassy spokesman Richard Turner told the Vremya Novostey newspaper that Deputy Ambassador David Gowan, who is now serving as ambassador, had already called Mr. Bogdanchikov and apologized. “The president of Rosneft can enter the UK and continue his work,” he said. For the rest, according to Mr. Turner, the incident should be commented on by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the customs service of the United Kingdom.
BP also diligently avoids comments. “We regret the incident, but this issue should be addressed to the customs and migration services,” said a company representative and added that Mr. Bogdanchikov’s failed meeting with BP was “ordinary negotiations, the details of which we do not disclose.”