BP CEO to hold talks with President Putin

John Browne, CEO of the oil giant British Petroleum, will be holding talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week, Reuters reported. It will be his first visit to Russia since 2003 when he took part in the signing of agreement that finalized the formation of TNK-BP.

According to official reports, Mr. Brown is going to clarify issues relating to "investment environment in the Russian oil industry." However, experts say that BP CEO may also raise the issue of tax claims brought by Russian tax authorities to TNK-BP. On April 11th JSC Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) received additional tax claims for operations in 2001 to the amount of 26 billion rubles.

Part of the talks in the Kremlin will probably concern possibilities of access for foreign companies to take part in the development of oil and gas deposits in Russia. In the past TNK-BP unsuccessfully applied to the Russian government for a license to develop the Kovyktinskoye gas field in Eastern Siberia, one of Russia's largest gas fields.