On Monday, Stan Polovets, chief executive of the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) consortium, confirmed that the $900m payment to BP expected in February would not be made. "AAR has, for now, decided not to pay the fourth-quarter dividend."
The oligarchs are furious about BP's share swap deal with Russian state-owned oil group Rosneft, announced a few weeks ago, as it had been expected that TNK-BP would be the company's main vehicle for investing in the energy-rich state.
TNK-BP's board is scheduled to meet on February 18 to approve the dividend, which has to be approved by both sides under the shareholder agreements signed in 2008. AAR's decision on Monday therefore means that the February payment will not be made, although they left the door open for approval at a later date. BP declined to comment.
A legal action starts on Tuesday in London, in which the oligarchs claim BP has violated a previous agreement by signing the Rosneft deal, with the judge deciding whether there is a case for BP to answer.
If there is a ruling in favour of AAR, the matter will be referred for arbitration in Sweden, as per the TNK-BP shareholder agreements.
AAR represents the interests of Mikhail Fridman, Len Blatvatnik and Viktor Vekselberg, who jointly own TNK-BP with the UK oil giant. TNK-BP accounts for about a third of BP's output.
The row looks likely to overshadow BP's fourth-quarter results presentation on Tuesday, at which the group is widely expected to reinstate its dividend, which was postponed following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year. However, the dividend is expected to be restarted at about half its previous level, with analysts forecasting a payment of about seven cents a share. BP is forecast to post a loss of about $4.5bn – the company's first annual loss in more than 20 years.
Oil prices have been boosted by a tentative recovery, with the price of Brent crude touching $100 a barrel on Monday. This underpins BP's return to the dividend list, which is expected to cost $1.3bn.
In 2008, Bob Dudley, BP's new chief executive who was then TNK-BP's head, had to leave the country as a result of a conflict between BP and the Russian oligarchs behind AAR. Mr Dudley is also expected to unveil his latest strategy following the quarterly numbers.
Rosneft was also scheduled to unveil its 2010 results on Tuesday, but on Monday postponed the release until February 4 so they did not clash with BP. The Russian group's net profit is expected to rise 60pc to $10.41bn, boosted by rising oil prices.
Energy
& Utilities and Oil
& Gas vacancies at Telegraph
Jobs
