Russian natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev said Tuesday the company will look at entering the capital of oil venture OAO TNK-BP (TNBP.RS) once a corporate governance conflict there is resolved.
"We hope the conflict will be solved," Medvedev said in response to a reporter's question at a company press conference here, adding, "Then we'll consider it."
A spat between BP PLC (BP.LN) and its Russian partners in oil venture OAO TNK-BP (TNBP.RS) points to mounting pressure from state-owned OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) to obtain a stake in the oil producer Russia's third biggest, industry participants say.
TNK-BP is a 50-50 joint venture between BP and a troika of Russian billionaires: Mikhail Fridman, Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik.
Medvedev also confirmed plans to move towards pricing export contracts in rubles, citing full convertibility of the currency as the key to that happening.
"Then we'll be able to use rubles for our external contracts fully," he said.
In response to another question, Medvedev said Gazprom has received assurance from the Serbian governmnet, after a meeting in St. Petersburg, that an agreement to invest in the country's state-controlled oil and gas company NIS will be ironed out "in the nearest future."