Rosneft is considering purchase of British shares in TNK-BP

BP has notified its partners of its intention to sell its
stake in the Russian-British company TNK-BP, of which it owns 50%, the
company said.

Currently 50% of TNK-BP is owned by BP and the Russian consortium AAR
(25% - by "Alfa Group" of Friedman, 12.5% - by "Renova" of Viktor
Vekselberg and 12.5% by "Access Industries" of Leonard Blavatnik).

A consortium of Russian shareholders, AAR has previously announced its
readiness to buy out BP's share or exchange their stake for shares
of British companies.

In turn, the president of "Rosneft", Igor Sechin, said that the company
will consider the possibility of buying BP's share.


At the present time AAR and BP have a clash of corporate interests.
The reason for that is the failed deal between the BP and Rosneft. The
transaction involved joint development of Russia's continental shelf
and the exchange of shares between the Rosneft and BP, but it was
blocked by AAR.