Robert Dudley

Kremlin vouches TNK-BP is safe from prosecution

TNK-BPMoscow - A top Kremlin advisor on Monday denied political meddling in the legal struggles of TNK-BP head Robert Dudley with Russian shareholders of the joint oil venture.

"TNK-BP faces no risks whatsoever to its operations in Russia, and the shareholders must decide what to do next," Kremlin economist Arkady Dvorkovich was quoted by news agency RIA-Novosti as saying Monday.

Observers have suspected that the shareholder battle between British Petroleum (BP) and its Russian billionaire partners, as well as recent legal enquires into foreign employees working at the company preface a takeover by a Russian state firm such as Gazprom.