MOSCOW, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Following a visit to Moscow by British officials, a Russian court said it banned raids on the offices of BP and all evidence must remain sealed.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said during meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron that neither government was interested in wading into disputes between BP and its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP.
BP last week filed a complaint in Russia asking a court to cancel a ruling that gave TNK-BP rights to access its corporate documents. The move came after a minority shareholder at TNK-BP sparked a raid on BP's offices in Moscow when he claimed a failed deal between BP and Russian oil company Rosneft resulted in economic losses of $2.7 billion.
A Russian court said following Cameron's visit that additional raids on BP's offices in Moscow were forbidden, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reports. The newspaper adds that the judgment notes that evidence obtained from the recent raid must remain sealed until the next scheduled hearing in October.
The relationship between Alfa-Access-Renova, the entity representing the Russian interests in the joint venture, and BP is historically acrimonious. Bob Dudley, now chief executive officer at BP, left his offices in Moscow in 2008 while serving as the head of TNK-BP because he said he was harassed by the Russians.
