Russians Up the Ante in Row Over Bp Oil Venture

BP's Russian joint venture partners are poised to take legal action tomorrow against TNK-BP chief executive Bob Dudley in six jurisdictions, including Russia. If successful, Dudley could be ousted and barred as a company director.

AAR, the consortium of Russian shareholders which owns almost half of TNK-BP and has a presence on its board, has appointed heavyweight legal firms Lovells and SJ Berwin to represent it, The Observer has learnt. Lawyers have prepared legal actions against the BP-nominated directors of the management board of TNK-BP - chiefly Dudley - claiming they have not fulfilled their fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders. The actions will take place in Russia, the UK, Sweden, Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands and the US.

If, as expected, the AAR directors are outvoted at the emergency meeting of the TNK-BP management board that AAR has called tomorrow, the consortium will launch the legal actions.

Stan Polovets, the consortium's chief executive, said: 'If the vote is opposed then we will have no other option but to take legal action. The dispute could go on for months and months but we wish it would end quickly.'

AAR, which is made up of Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova, believes that BP is running TNK-BP as its subsidiary rather than as an independent joint venture. Tensions between the two factions escalated last week after Dudley emailed staff warning that he and other expatriate staff would have to leave Moscow when their visas expired this month.

AAR wants TNK-BP to appoint an independent chief executive in place of Dudley, who comes from BP. The Russians have complained that BP has prevented the joint venture from expanding overseas. AAR also wants TNK-BP to seek a full listing - probably in London - which would help the $36bn rated company to make acquisitions.

A spokesman for BP said: 'We have total confidence in Bob Dudley. He acts with integrity and in the interests of all TNK-BP shareholders. This latest action is contrary to the legal agreements of the joint venture and is nothing more than a new version of the corporate raiding activities of the 1990s.'