TNK-BP chief executive Robert Dudley spent five hours answering questions at an Interior Ministry office Tuesday in what appeared to be the latest episode in a wrangle for control of the company between a group of Russian billionaires and Britain's BP.

Dudley was called to the ministry's Central Federal District office as part of an investigation into "tax matters" related to his company's predecessor, TNK, for which he never worked. Looking tired but relieved, he downplayed the questioning session as he emerged from the barbwire-topped fence surrounding the compound, passing the Kalashnikov-toting guard at the entrance.

"It was a very routine meeting. There were no problems. It was a review of TNK," Dudley said to the dozen of reporters waiting outside. "Routine matters, by the law, very professional."

As his two bodyguards cleared a path through the group, he repeated the statement to a squall of further questions. His black BMW sped away as soon as the door slammed closed behind him.
Mikhail Fridman, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik have been embroiled in a bitter dispute with BP over their TNK-BP joint venture, calling for foreign expansion and less reliance on expensive Western employees.

The group of Russian shareholders and BP each own half of the company. TNK-BP insisted in a statement last week that the Interior Ministry summons was unrelated to the "current shareholders' discussions," but a source close to BP said it was just a part of the efforts by "one group of shareholders" to win control over the company.

In recent months, TNK-BP has suffered a series of setbacks that has been interpreted as an attempt by the Russian shareholders to increase their role in decision-making at the company.

On Monday, TNK-BP sent a senior executive to meet with a Moscow city prosecutor to discuss a probe of its hiring and compensation practices for foreign staff. It has effectively been barred from employing its 150 foreign engineers since March, initially because of visa irregularities, then because they were barred from entering the company's offices by security guards, and now as a result of a court injunction.

In March, federal security agents searched the company's offices after detaining an employee on charges of industrial. Tuesday's Interior Ministry appointment meant a serious interruption in Dudley's duties at TNK-BP, a source familiar with the situation said.

"It's not particularly normal that he had to spend five hours there — basically an entire work day — when he had other things to attend to," the source said.

Industry sources and analysts believe that the dispute at the company was sparked by plans on the part of a state-owned company, most likely Gazprom or Rosneft, to take a controlling stake in the venture.

Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told reporters at a business forum in France on Tuesday that the gas company would consider investing in TNK-BP only after its shareholders had settled their dispute.

TNK-BP spokeswoman Marina Dracheva said Tuesday that Dudley had been summoned by investigators as a witness in "tax matters pertaining to … TNK activities in 2001-2003."

Although Dudley never worked for TNK, Dracheva said he was questioned because TNK-BP is still responsible for any of the TNK's legal liabilities.

Investigators said they appreciated Dudley's agreement to come talk to them, as he was not legally bound to show up, an Interior Ministry source said, Interfax reported. The source said Dudley provided the information investigators were seeking.

A spokesman for the ministry's Central Federal District office declined comment.

The Interior Ministry said last month that it was investigating a former TNK executive on charges of failing to pay nearly $1 billion in taxes from 2001 to 2003. Interfax reported that the suspect was Simon Kukes, who now heads Samara Nafta.

Kukes' secretary said Tuesday that he was out of the office and that she was unaware when he would come back. TNK-BP on Tuesday repeated earlier statements that it had repaid the tax arrears. Legally, however, an executive accused of not paying the taxes is still open to prosecution.

The Billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group on Thursday denied any connection with Tetlis, a little-known company that filed a lawsuit against TNK-BP in a Siberian court.

Tetlis' management has "no relation whatsoever and in no way is connected with Alfa Group," Fridman's holding company said in a statement. Fridman is among a group of Russian billionaires that owns TNK-BP with BP.

An injunction from a Tyumen court bars BP specialists from working at TNK-BP until Tetlis' suit, which objects to a 2003 employee contract, is resolved. The ban may hinder the firm in developing new fields, TNK-BP's chief operating officer, Tim Summers, said Wednesday.

In a May 13 interview, Tetlis general director and founder Alexander Tagayev confirmed information on his company's web site that in the 1990s he worked at Alfa Capital and Alfa Bank, units of Alfa Group. Alfa's statement Thursday specifically denied any connection to Tagayev and Vadim Zykov, Tetlis' executive director.

TNK-BP is already under pressure after authorities gave it an environmental warning, BP workers had visa problems and investigators raided their headquarters and charged an employee with industrial espionage. The company has yet to complete a deal to sell Gazprom its Kovykta gas project amid speculation the gas-export monopoly plans to buy out the Russian shareholders.

The company's legal troubles may, in fact, be connected with disagreements between BP and the Russian shareholders, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. Alfa denied any disagreement with BP.

BP holds 50 percent of TNK-BP International, while Alfa and companies controlled by billionaires Len Blavatnik, German Khan and Viktor Vekselberg own the other half. TNK-BP International holds about 95 percent of TNK-BP Holding. Tetlis owns about 0.13 percent of the company.

BP CEO Tony Hayward will meet with three of the Russian billionaires who control half of TNK-BP, The Wall Street Journal said, citing people close to the matter.