Russian taxman swoops on TNK-BP books

Russian tax officials yesterday made fresh demands, requesting unprecedented
levels of information on a group of foreigners seconded to
TNK-BP only hours after
Gordon Brown raised official harassment of the company with Russian president
Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 meeting in Japan.

The officials wanted time sheets, certification of business trips and
passport copies showing foreign travel covering a two-year period, from January
2006 to December 2007, the Guardian reports.

The information must be submitted within 10 days or penalties will apply,
according to a source, confirmed by a BP spokesperson in London who said a tough
review of the business was under way. ‘These kinds of audits go on all the time
but the latest one seems to involve an unusually rigorous claim for
documentation,’ he said.

TNK-BP, Russia’s second-biggest foreign investment, has been involved in from
a year-long tussle between BP and its Russian oligarch partners over management
control and future strategy.

Further reading:

TNK-BP chief hangs on to power

BP accused of dealing secretly with Kremlin

Read
the story in the Guardian