BP will not alter terms of agreement with TNK for early money receipt by Russian shareholders

The British Petroleum oil company has announced that it does not see any possibility to change the terms of the agreement on the joint venture with the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) to enable its partners to receive money prematurely, The Independent writes.

Earlier, The Financial Times, another British newspaper, published an article, which said that the Russian shareholders of TNK-BP wanted to accelerate the receipt of money within the framework of the companies' merger.

The shareholders that concluded the transaction on the establishment of TNK-BP received $3 billion in cash, when the transaction was signed in August last year. In the coming three years they are to receive another $3.75 billion in the form of BP shares. However, now they are trying to persuade BP to pay them the remaining money at once and in cash so that they can invest funds in other undertakings.

As The Independent writes, a BP public relations officer said the other day that under the agreement signed last year with Russia's Alpha-Group and Access-Renova, these Russian businessmen are to stay the shareholders of TNK-BP at least until 2007 and get the remaining sum due to them in the form of BP shares during three years in three equal portions. The first portion of $1.25 billion is to be paid to them late in August this year. We concluded an excellent package of agreements, the BP representative said. We expect all the partners to abide by these agreements.

Earlier, one of the shareholders of TNK-BP, Viktor Vekselberg, stated several times that he would prefer to get cash instead of BP shares to invest these funds into new undertakings.