BP Russian feud moves to UK court

Oil giant sues billionaires in battle to run joint venture, alleging it is owed £180m BP’s bitter battle with the four billionaires who control half of its Russian joint venture has escalated to new heights, with the drama poised to move to a British courtroom. The oil giant is suing its Russian partners in the High Court in London over a $360m (£180m) tax claim. The claim, which was lodged last Monday, alleges that BP is owed the sum under the terms of an agreement that was struck at the creation of the TNK-BP joint venture in 2003. It also alleges that BP has made three separate attempts to reach an agreement on the issue, the first of which was made more than 15 months ago. The four billionaires - Mikhail Fridman, Viktor Vekselberg, Leonard Blavatnik and German Khan - plan to fight the claim. A spokesman for their holding... [read full story]