Russia's security service said today it had arrested an employee of British Petroleum's Russian joint venture for spying, deepening investor fears of a politically inspired campaign against the oil company.
The day after its agents raided the Moscow offices of TNK-BP, carrying away documents and computer information, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had arrested two brothers with the surname Zaslavsky, one of whom worked for TNK-BP.
It said the other detainee was connected to the British government's cultural arm, which has already been the target of Russian action. Both had Russian and US passports.
"According to FSB information, the people mentioned were illegally collecting classified commercial information for a number of foreign oil and gas companies to gain advantages over Russian competitors," the FSB said in a statement.
FSB agents swooped without warning on TNK-BP and on BP's separate Moscow offices on Wednesday, carrying away documents and computers and questioning senior staff. Conflicting reasons were given for the raids by the authorities.
BP's London head office declined to comment. A TNK-BP staff directory from last year lists an Ilya Zaslavsky as working in the company's gas section as a commercial consultant.