Troubled Waters Continue at Anglo-Russian Joint Venture TNK-BP

TNK-BP announced that it has cancelled a board meeting due to the lack of a quorum.

BP and its Russian partners in TNK-BP, the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) consortium, have been seeking to appoint new independent directors since Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, and James Leng, the ex-chairman of Rio Tinto announced their decision to resign in late 2011.

Alexander Shokhin, who is the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (nominated by AAR) remains in his position on the Board.  Evert Henkes, a former senior manager at Shell, who was nominated by BP has become the second independent director. The third position however remains vacant.

Due to the absence of a quorum, the Board also postponed the declaration and distribution of first-quarter dividends until a third independent director has been appointed and the Board is once again at its full strength of 11 directors, including three independent directors.

Tensions between BP and AAR were heighten by an attempt last year by BP to strike a subsequently failed strategic alliance with Rosneft, the Russian state owned oil company.

AAR took the matter to international arbitration, claiming that that any deal between BP and Rosneft, breached a shareholder agreement granting TNK-BP the right of first refusal to any new venture in Russia or Ukraine.