BLACK-CLAD special forces raided BP’s Moscow offices yesterday, deepening the British company’s problems in Russia after its attempts to salvage an oil exploration agreement in the Russian Arctic collapsed.
The raid, a day after ExxonMobil signed a deal giving it access to fields BP had hoped to develop, was ordered to let bailiffs search for documents in a legal battle over BP’s failed bid to partner Russia in the Arctic, a spokeswoman said.
But BP, which has a long history of problems in Russia, denounced the raid and said it feared the search could continue for the rest of this week. “It is our opinion that the court order under which . . . court bailiffs are now in our office has no legal grounds. The office’s work has been paralysed,” BP Russia president Jeremy Huck was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
“We see these actions as pressure on BP’s operations in Russia,” he said. Most of BP’s employees were sent home or told not to work because of the raid, and the offices were sealed off. – (Reuters)
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