The future
of Maxim Barsky, the chief-executive-in-waiting of BP PLC's Russian joint
venture, is in question as BP and its partners believe he isn't up to the job,
people familiar with the matter said.
The situation raises the prospect that Mr. Barsky might quit, forcing the
TNK-BP venture to search for a successor or keep interim CEO Mikhail Fridman in
place for the near future. Mr. Barsky previously said he would leave the
company by year-end if no agreement were reached on him taking the top job.
Mr. Barsky in an interview expressed frustration at TNK-BP's structure, saying
the U.K. oil company and its
partners, the AAR consortium of Soviet-born
billionaires, had too much influence over the joint venture's day-to-day
operation. Mr. Barsky, whose title is deputy CEO, said the shareholders need to
allow more independent management of TNK-BP.
If Mr. Barsky decides to leave, his departure would mean new turmoil at TNK-BP,
which has been dogged by management troubles and shareholder disputes since its
creation in 2003. Its first boss, Bob Dudley of the U.S.,
was forced to flee Russia
in 2008 at the climax of a bitter conflict between BP and AAR.
Mr. Fridman, one of the Russian shareholders, subsequently was appointed
interim CEO.
The search for Mr. Dudley's successor was protracted. In November 2009, BP said
the successor would be Mr. Barsky, who had been working at the company as head
of strategy, though he wouldn't take the job until January 2011. Meanwhile, he
was given the chance to prove himself in a series of management roles at TNK-BP
and serve an apprenticeship at BP's London
headquarters.
But the January deadline came and went, and eight months later Mr. Barsky is no
closer to assuming the post. One reason for the delay was the new outbreak of
hostilities between BP and AAR this year over
an Arctic exploration deal BP signed with the Russian state oil company OAO
Rosneft. AAR effectively blocked the deal,
arguing that it breached its shareholder agreement with BP. Rosneft
subsequently said it would team up with Exxon Mobil Corp. instead.
Now, with the TNK-BP partners trying to put that dispute behind them and get
back to business, neither side feels Mr. Barsky is "up to the job" of
CEO, the people familiar with the matter said.
Declining to be more specific, one of the people said "no one is pushing
him out" and that he can stay in his current role for the foreseeable
future.
In an interview Sunday, Mr. Barsky sharply criticized the way TNK-BP is run,
saying the shareholder agreement between BP and AAR
needs to be rewritten. BP and AAR have equal
representation on the TNK-BP board. That balance of interests is reflected at
the level of management as well.
The problem is, that leaves the shareholders with too much influence over
operational issues, Mr. Barsky said. As a result, some senior executives at the
company, such as the head of exploration and production, aren't represented in
TNK-BP's management board -- a situation he said was "untenable."
He declined to comment on whether he would leave by year-end if he weren't made
CEO, a threat he had made in an interview last July.
The issue of Mr. Barsky's future was not on the agenda of TNK-BP's board
meeting Friday, which approved a $1.25 billion special dividend for the first
half of the year.
BP, which is responsible for choosing TNK-BP's boss, now is expected to make a
decision on Mr. Barsky's fate and communicate it "very soon," the
person said.
Theoretically, Mr. Barsky could remain deputy chief executive. Alternatively,
the partners might consider reopening the CEO search or groom someone
internally and stick with the current interim arrangement for another few
years, the person said.