BP Looks To Escape A Russian Nightmare
While BP has always been one of the more active corporate players in the Russian market, even the oil giant seems to have seen enough. The group has announced that all 148 BP staff who were working for TNK-BP (the company's Russian joint venture) have been withdrawn and placed elsewhere in the region.
BP has been at the centre of what is turning into a very ugly fight over ownership of TNK-BP with a number of Russian billionaires looking to take the matter to court. Historically Russian court rulings have never favoured western companies and it looks as though BP fears the same fate this time around. The joint venture is actually the third largest oil company in the region, but BP seems to be fighting a losing battle and attracting very little assistance from international sources.
On the surface the Russian markets have all been opened up to the larger companies of the Western world but in reality it can often be very different. BP is not the first, and will not be the last, Western company to suffer at the hands of suspected political meddling but the fact an asset of such size is at stake has concerned many who trade in the region.
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