Gazprom
The NYT put it this way:
Asia Times adds:
But these two have recently moved into the Kremlin and the game has changed.
This in itself is not a disaster but the new restrictions on the joint venture are. And this is not the only time that foreign ventures into Russia, particularly from Britain, have come to grief.
You may recall the partial ousting of the British Council in January and the following throwing out of all foreign academics and other workers of long standing in the RF in May, a move in which I was caught up and summarily thrown out, with all the others.
Now forgotten and well before my blogging days, hence my inability to attribute, was the British crystal manufacturer in Vladimir, one of the Zolotoye Koltso towns near Moscow. Once the plant had been in production 18 months, I seem to recall, the local authority said there was something wrong with the paperwork on the site the plant was on.
It was closed down, pending resolution of the matter and the owners barred from entry. Once they were eventually allowed in, most of the equipment had been removed and that which was left had been painted over another colour and the serial numbers erased.
No one is suggesting that the current situation is anything like that and the Minister I used to work with was one of the key people bringing corporate practice into line with Europe in the past few years.
Nevertheless, there was a message from 1998 and I marvel that BP did not know the lie of the land which was perfectly obvious to irrelevant individuals like myself well ahead of time. There seems to be a blockage in the understanding of the Russian psyche outside of Russia.
With British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Vladimir V. Putin looking on, BP and Russia's TNK formed a 50-50 joint venture in 2003. The ceremony may have been the company's high water mark. The only oil company with partial foreign control, TNK-BP may be excluded from developing new fields under national security rules.
Asia Times adds:
BP [had] 23% of its global oil reserves located there, 25% of its current oil production, and a comparable amount of its market capitalization. … Robert Dudley, chief executive of TNK-BP - the 50/50 joint venture BP … operated for five years with Fridman, Len Blavatnik and Victor Vekselberg … [but] was found out, having tried to negotiate secretly with Russia's Gazprom the sale and purchase of the 50% stake in TNK-BP owned by the Russian trio - collectively known as AAR, reflecting the names of their holdings, Alfa, Access and Renova.
Dudley, BP chairman Peter Sutherland and chief executive Tony Hayward may have thought their proposed deal had the blessing of Gazprom's chairman at the time, Dmitry Medvedev, and Gazprom's chief lawyer, Konstantin Chuichenko.
But these two have recently moved into the Kremlin and the game has changed.
According to the Financial Times, Russian media reports and public statements by BP and AAR, the agreement between Hayward and Fridman - if it sticks - requires Dudley to be ousted by December 1.
This in itself is not a disaster but the new restrictions on the joint venture are. And this is not the only time that foreign ventures into Russia, particularly from Britain, have come to grief.
You may recall the partial ousting of the British Council in January and the following throwing out of all foreign academics and other workers of long standing in the RF in May, a move in which I was caught up and summarily thrown out, with all the others.
Now forgotten and well before my blogging days, hence my inability to attribute, was the British crystal manufacturer in Vladimir, one of the Zolotoye Koltso towns near Moscow. Once the plant had been in production 18 months, I seem to recall, the local authority said there was something wrong with the paperwork on the site the plant was on.
It was closed down, pending resolution of the matter and the owners barred from entry. Once they were eventually allowed in, most of the equipment had been removed and that which was left had been painted over another colour and the serial numbers erased.
No one is suggesting that the current situation is anything like that and the Minister I used to work with was one of the key people bringing corporate practice into line with Europe in the past few years.
Nevertheless, there was a message from 1998 and I marvel that BP did not know the lie of the land which was perfectly obvious to irrelevant individuals like myself well ahead of time. There seems to be a blockage in the understanding of the Russian psyche outside of Russia.
BP did not know the lie of the land which was perfectly obvious to irrelevant individuals like myself well ahead of time
ReplyDeleteIt is always the same James, been in a similar situation but on a more local level. I tried to point out what was going on at the time, but no one listened!
It's a commentary on an organization's knowledge catchment procedures and mindset.
ReplyDeleteDon't be hard on BP, the whole of the British establishment suffer from this myopia.
ReplyDelete