BP plc's troubled Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, just
lost its CFO. James Owen tendered his resignation to CEO Robert Dudley on August 4, citing an inability to continue working independently as shareholder issues remain unresolved. In mid-July, BP's Russian counterparts made public their intention to buy out the 50% of the oil JV they didn't own, saying BP treated the venture as a subsidiary rather than a JV. BP said
there would be no sale.
A major twist came two weeks ago when
Dudley fled Russia, saying he would spend the next few weeks recovering from "personal intimidation" in an undisclosed location. Dudley, whose Russian visa was about to expire, says he will run the company from abroad, but Yahoo! Finance notes that BP chief Tony Hayward said last week in London that Dudley could only manage the company for a
limited time outside Russia.
Another report mentioned that Russian shareholders Len Blavatnik, Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Victor Vekselberg could end up selling their stake to state-owned OAO Gazprom Neft. --
Baz HiralalTNK-BP's Chief Financial Officer Resigns
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