LONDON, July 9 (UPI) -- Russian officials Wednesday launched a new round of tax and labor investigations into the British expatriate staff of the TNK-BP energy conglomerate in Moscow.
The move follows a meeting between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Group of Eight summit in Japan. The pair discussed controlling shares in the 50-50 merger of Russian and British oil and gas assets.
Russian investigators launched a new round of inquiries into whether the Moscow staff members are in compliance with Russian tax and labor laws.
The investigation follows concerns from TNK-BP Chief Executive Robert Dudley that Moscow would force his staff to leave the country. On Monday, Dudley survived an attempt by the four Russian billionaire partners in TNK-BP to throw him out of office.
A foreign policy adviser to Medvedev, Sergei Prokhodko, told Brown the Russian president viewed the TNK-BP dispute as a matter best resolved by corporate shareholders, The Times of London said.
The Russian interests are maneuvering for a greater say in the TNK-BP board, saying the expatriate staff is persuading the company to follow British interests in preventing foreign expansion, The Times said.
Energy analysts see the move by the Russian shareholders as a veiled attempt by the Kremlin to insert Russian energy giant Gazprom into the TNK-BP consortium.
