British company selling 20 percent stake in Rosneft

Sunday 27 February 20:41

British company BP announced that it is selling its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, and that its Chief Executive Director Bernard Looney and ex-head Robert Dudley are leaving the Russian company’s Board of Directors.

Source: Bloomberg.

Great Britain’s Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng summoned Looney and said that he was "concerned" about the company's participation in Rosneft. Several British members of parliament demanded that BP get rid of its stake in the Russian oil company.

BP and Rosneft became partners in 1998, starting with production projects. Almost ten years later, in 2006, BP became a 1.25% shareholder during the IPO of the oil company. In 2013, as part of the consolidation of Rosneft, TNK-BP BP acquired another 18.5% of the shares, increasing its stake to 19.25%, becoming Rosneft’s largest foreign shareholder.