A minority shareholder in BP's Russian venture TNK-BP
reportedly intends to sue the UK supermajor in a Siberian court over its
alliance with Rosneft.
Andrei Prokhorov has filed a petition to the Arbitration
Court of the Tyumen region claiming up to $10 billion in damages for TNK-BP
following BP's tie-up with state-run Rosneft for an Arctic exploration project,
according to reports In Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, cited by
Reuters.
The petitions were filed days before BP agreed to cede its
role in the Arctic pact to TNK-BP, bowing to the demands of a group of
billionaire shareholders who had fought a court battle to get a slice of the
deal.
Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the consortium representing the
quartet of billionaires, had objected to the Arctic pact, saying BP was obliged
to pursue all its Russian ventures exclusively through TNK-BP.
Both BP and AAR, which are 50:50 partners in TNK-BP, declined
to comment on the court case today.
News of the case came as a 16 May deadline nears for BP and
Rosneft to finalise agreement on a share swap that was part of a deal agreed in
January to search for oil in the Arctic offshore.
BP and AAR reached anarbitration agreementlast
week that would allow TNK-BP to function as the vehicle for the offshore pact,
subject to Rosneft's consent, and allow the share swap to go ahead with restrictions.
BP chief executive Bob Dudley said today talks were ongoing
about its planned share swap with Rosneft and he was optimistic about a
resolution.
"I think there is always lots of discussion going on
and I think we will find a resolution to this over time," Dudley told
Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in St Gallen.
Some analysts believe the deadline to complete the swap,
which was previously blocked by a court injunction, could be extended