Ex-NATO chief slams Russia in BP row

A former Nato secretary general has accused Russia of using 'illegitimate means' to take over an oil firm jointly owned by BP.

Lord Robertson, deputy chairman of Moscow-based TNK-BP, condemned Russian business group Alfa, Access and Renova  -  which owns half the oil firm  -  for forcing chief executive Bob Dudley to flee the country.

'There is a legitimate way of bringing about change in a company  -  through negotiation and discussion,' he said.

'AAR's efforts to wrest control of the company through illegitimate means are damaging the company and, regrettably, Russia's reputation among international investors.'

The Russian oligarchs behind the AAR group are suspected of persuading officials to refuse to extend Mr Dudley's work visa.

The row came after Bob Dudley, chief executive of a Moscow-based company jointly-owned by BP, fled to a secret location.

As he fled TNK-BP, he described a culture of harassment at the firm, while BP sources revealed that his phone was tapped and his mail was being read.

He claimed he had to write important messages to colleagues on a notepad to avoid being overheard.

The extraordinary development - the latest blow in the battle between a group of Russian billionaires which owns half the firm and BP's board in London - was condemned as 'an outrage' by British officials.

The Foreign Office said the incident could have a 'detrimental' impact on the British and Russian economies, and on the global energy market.

Mr Dudley will continue to run the company remotely from an undisclosed location outside Russia, according to BP.

The oil giant would not reveal his whereabouts, but said he was not working from any BP office around the world. Sources in Russia believe he flew to England.

'Driven out': Robert Dudley, who will remain chairman of TNK-BP, but will leave Russia, citing continued harassment by shareholders and Russian authorities

In an emotional statement that did little to conceal his bitterness, Mr Dudley said the row with his Russian partners had left him unable to perform his duties.

'In light of the uncertainties surrounding the status of my work visa and the sustained harassment of the company and myself, I have decided to leave and work outside Russia,' the American said.

He admitted his personal working conditions had become 'intolerable'.

In a separate incident it emerged last night that the British ambassador to Moscow and two of his diplomats were refused entry to a UK-funded nuclear fuel storage facility in Russia when they turned up on a scheduled visit.

Ambassador Anthony Brenton was in the Arctic port of Murmansk on Thursday to visit a British navy ship that was there to take part in a Russian Naval Day celebration. But when he arrived, he was turned away without prior warning.

The British Embassy expressed 'profound surprise' at the snub. It also took the opportunity to criticise the Russian involvement in the current saga at TNK-BP.

'The way shareholders have manipulated elements of the Russian state bureaucracy and the way this has been allowed to continue is very disappointing,' an embassy spokesman said.

'We will continue to stress to the Russian government the importance of a resolution between the shareholders in full accordance with the rule of law.'

The relationship between the two countries hit a new low earlier this month when Russia claimed a British diplomat, who worked in the embassy in a job promoting trade, was a spy.

The Russians 'unmasked' him in retaliation for what they considered to be a series of provocative actions by the British.

These included a British intelligence source claiming that the FSB - formerly known as the KGB - was involved in the London murder of Russian emigré Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned by polonium-210 and a bid to murder billionaire Boris Berezovsky, an arch-enemy of ex-president Vladimir Putin.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown pressed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for a resolution to the latest dispute when they met at the G8 summit in Japan earlier this month.

But a senior Russian government official claimed that Mr Dudley's departure would help resolve the long-running conflict over management of the joint oil venture.

The official also denied the government had a role in the conflict between the British oil giant and its Russian billionaire partners.

He said: 'Dudley's decision was hardly spontaneous. He was unlikely to have made it on his own. This means Dudley's departure was a joint decision by shareholders. It can be treated as a step toward resolving the conflict.'