BP LAST night revealed that Robert Dudley, chief executive of TNK-BP, had "temporarily" left Russia to run the company from outside the country.
The British oil company has been locked in a battle for control of TNK-BP with a group of Russian billionaires, with whom BP founded the joint venture.
BP last night claimed that Dudley's departure would have "no effect" on business and said he w
ould continue to serve as chief executive of TNK-BP.
The oil giant added that Dudley had "all requisite authority to continue to run the company".
Dudley said in a statement: "I shall seek to provide continuity of management in the best interests of all shareholders pending a resolution of the differences between Alfa, Access, Renova and BP.
"I hope that administrative pressure on the group will now ease. I hope this will enable our employees to continue with our business outside of the media glare whilst the shareholders seek to resolve their differences."
Dudley had until Sunday to present a contract to Russia's migration service in order to renew his visa.
Earlier in the week, BP withdrew its remaining 60 technical specialists from Russia.
The British oil company said that all 148 BP employees who were seconded to TNK-BP had now been withdrawn.
The seconded staff were suspended in March after their efforts to renew their visas ran into problems. BP said TNK-BP security also prevented them working.
Some of the BP staff left soon after the visa problems emerged.
Apart from the seconded staff, TNK-BP itself has had problems with renewing visa and work permits for some of its key managers and former employees of BP, including Dudley.
The billionaires who set up TNK-BP had criticised Dudley, who was appointed by BP, for his use of staff seconded from BP.
The full article contains 312 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
