Bebida Beverage Company (BBDA)

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ANSWER - Yet another RNVO but NOT US
Alfa Group, Renova (RNVO.LN)
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UPDATE: BP Confident TNK-BP Holders Can Resolve Differences
|Published: June 07, 2008 11:22 AM
Related Quotes BP 68.57 -1.13 -1.62% OGZPY 59.05 0.00 0.00%

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Elena Murina
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- U.K. oil major BP Plc (BP) said Saturday it expects an ongoing shareholder spat at its Russian joint venture to end soon, echoing comments from its Russian partners.

"Our investment in Russia has been successful," Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, said Saturday, referring to Russia's third biggest oil producer TNK-BP Ltd. (TNBP.RS) - a joint venture created in 2003 with BP and three Russian billionaires holding 50% each.

"I'm confident we will resolve our differences," he added while speaking at the Kremlin-backed St. Petersburg Economic Forum.

A conflict between BP and the three Russian shareholders - Alfa Group, Renova (RNVO.LN) and Access Industries, controlled by billionaires Mikhail Fridman Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik, respectively - over the strategy and management of TNK-BP has in recent weeks been on public display.

Last week, the two parties split over the fate of TNK-BP's Chief Executive Robert Dudley, a former BP employee. The Russian shareholders said he was biased in favor of BP and demanded he be removed. BP, however, refused.

Both Dudley and Vekselberg said at this weekend's forum in St. Petersburg they believe the ongoing shareholder struggle will be settled in a few days.

"I expect some kind of preliminary agreement will be reached in a couple of days", Vekselberg said Friday.

He denied speculation that he is seeking to the ouster of Dudley, but confirmed that the Russian and U.K. owners are at odds over the strategic future of the firm.

The main Russian shareholder in TNK-BP, Mikhail Fridman, said Friday he held "substantive" discussions with BP's Tony Hayward ahead of the St. Petersburg forum over the fate of their joint venture and that both sides had agreed to take several days to "think it over."

The sides will continue discussions in the middle of next week, Fridman said.

The shareholder spat follows a string of other headaches for the TNK-BP, which has had its offices searched by the Federal Security Service, one employee arrested on industrial-espionage charges and foreign staff seconded from BP stranded outside the country following visa problems.

Analysts expect a state-owned company like OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) or OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) to buy out the Russian shareholders in the coming months.

Some investors have said they see the outcome of the conflict as a test for Russia's investment climate.

"The road ahead is risky. In the events ahead, the company will likely test the strength of Russia's laws and institutions and it will be challenged by non-transparent parties," CEO Robert Dudley said last weekend at a conference in Moscow.

Company Web site: www.bp.com, www.forumspb.com

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-07-08 1122ET

Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

LINK -
http://netzero.smartmoney.com/news/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20080607-000421-1122



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