MOSCOW, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Oil major BP said it would file an appeal against a decision by a Moscow court to suspend TNK-BP chief Robert Dudley for two years.
A Moscow court Monday said the embattled Dudley was guilty of violating Russian labor laws and issued a $21 fine rather than a three-year ban. The two-year ban is the result of a separate investigation, The Financial Times said.
"This is another example of the sort of administrative interference which I referred to when I left Russia," Dudley told The Times in an e-mail statement.
Dudley left his office in Moscow in July, citing sustained "harassment" by Moscow. He has been operating from a secret European location since then.
BP and the Russian shareholders in the consortium have sparred recently over moves to expand TNK-BP operations in Europe.
