WRAPUP 1-Russian partners sue BP as TNK-BP talks collapse

(Adds lawsuits, quotes, comments from CEO)

By Michael Stott and Tom Bergin

MOSCOW/LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - BP's (BP.L) Russian partners in its troubled Russian joint venture TNK-BP decided on Wednesday to sue the British oil company in two cities after it rejected their demands for more boardroom clout.

Sources familiar with the dispute said talks between the two sides on the future of the highly lucrative company, seen as a bellwether for foreign investment in Russia, broke down late on Tuesday night.

The Russians said they decided to act after BP failed to agree to a set of specific demands by a Wednesday deadline. One of these was that the venture's American manager -- former BP man Robert Dudley -- should be fired.

The acrimonious and highly public argument between the two sides has alarmed investors. TNK-BP was the largest foreign investment in Russia when it was set up in 2003 and the Kremlin blessed the venture. It accounts for a quarter of BP's worldwide output and is Russia's third largest oil firm.

The quartet of Russian billionaires have complained to BP that their 50 percent holding in the company were not reflected on all TNK-BP related boards and said individual shareholders were being stripped of management powers.

They also said TNK-BP exceeded its powers in hiring secondees from BP, using too many foreigners in management positions at the Moscow headquarters instead of in technical posts in the field.

"We will be asking the International Arbitration Court in Stockholm to declare the secondment agreement null and void," an official for Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the consortium representing the four oligarchs, said in a telephone interview. "We have made a decision to file the suit today."

The official said AAR would launch a separate legal action in Moscow to strip BP-nominated TNK-BP directors of their powers because they had conducted what he termed an illegal board meeting of TNK-BP.

BP declined to comment officially on the Russian shareholders' complaints, though a letter from BP to the Russians at the weekend rejected the charges as baseless, according to a copy obtained by Reuters.

OWNERSHIP SHADOW

Although arguments in recent days have revolved around specific issues of boardroom power and the use of BP secondees at the Russian company, sources close to the matter say the real issue at stake is the venture's future ownership.

The Kremlin is widely believed to be seeking a big stake in the company for a state-controlled energy major, possibly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) or Rosneft (ROSN.MM), meaning one or more of the existing partners has to sell down.

The Russian oligarchs -- German Khan and Mikhail Fridman of Alfa Group, Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik -- say BP suggested they sell out, the AAR official said.