Russian partners ask to pull TNK-BP unit directors

LONDON (Reuters) - The Russian billionaire co-owners of oil company TNK-BP Plc increased pressure on their partner BP Plc (BP.L) on Wednesday, seeking to exclude their representatives from the board of TNK-BP's core subsidiary a day before the unit's annual general meeting.

"Three Russian members of the Board of Directors of TNK-BP Holding have addressed TNK-BP CEO Robert Dudley in writing on Tuesday with request to exclude them from the list of candidates that are going to be voted for at the Annual Shareholders Meeting on June 26th," AAR consortium, which represents the Russian billionaires, said in a statement issued in Moscow.

"In the meantime, AAR representatives WILL attend the meeting on Thursday."

An AAR source, who requested anonymity, said the three Russian TNK-BP board members requesting to step down are Roman Bezrukov, Alexander Gorshkov and Boris Kondrashov.

Stan Polovets, chief executive of the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) consortium, told Reuters by telephone that voting at Thursday's meeting would be held on a list of candidates proposed by Dudley, because the 14 candidates proposed by AAR had not been approved by the current board.

He said the Russian shareholders had not offered alternative candidates.

Polovets told a news briefing in London earlier on Wednesday that the directors in TNK-BP Holding (TBH) (TNBPI.RTS) would not seek reelection at the meeting.

"The Russian directors of TBH have formally informed the CEO of the company and the other (major) shareholders that they are stepping down as directors of TNK-BP Holdings," Polovets said.

Nonetheless, the Russian shareholders will be represented at the meeting and had agreed with a resolution on TNK-BP Holding paying a dividend for 2007.

Around 5 percent of TNK-BP Holdings is quoted on the stock exchange in Moscow, while TNK-BP, which is 50-50 owned by UK-based major oil company BP and its oligarch partners, owns the rest.

BP and the billionaires who co-own Russia's third-largest oil producer have been locked in an increasingly vocal dispute over recent months.

BP has said attacks on TNK-BP -- including the raiding of its offices by security services, tax and environmental probes and difficulties securing visas for workers -- are part of a campaign being orchestrated by its Russian partners to win control of the venture.

The Russians say TNK-BP's Dudley, who was appointed by BP, is running the company in BP's interests and at their expense.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Reuters in an interview that the parties should resolve their dispute using only legal means.

"I can only call illegal attempts to use the state to resolve internal corporate disputes," Medvedev said. "Neither the Russian partners nor the British partners should resort to such policies."

MORE LEGAL THREATS, KOVYKTA DIFFERENCES

Polovets made new threats of legal action on Wednesday, saying AAR could take action in Russia to have Dudley removed and could sue if the remaining directors of TBH made decisions at the annual meeting which the Russian partners opposed.

The AAR CEO added that the billionaires differed with BP over a plan to sell TNK-BP's interest in the giant Kovykta gas field to state-controlled Gazprom.

"We believe that there are a number of modifications that are required," he said.

Polovets said BP's support for the deal was based on matters unrelated to TNK-BP.

"BP is ready to sign because it's in BP's strategic interest in relation to Gazprom," he said.

BP is negotiating a separate agreement with Gazprom on international cooperation.

Despite the differences, Polovets said he was confident a deal would be reached soon.

Polovets said BP had also opposed a proposal from the Russian partners that TNK-BP be floated in an initial public offering.

BP's 50 percent stake in TNK-BP is Russia's second-biggest foreign investment and the venture produces a quarter of BP's worldwide output.

The other half of TNK-BP is controlled by four Russian billionaires -- Mikhail Fridman, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik.

(Additional reporting by David Schlesinger, Janet McBride, Dmitry Solovyov and Katerina Golubkova in Moscow; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)