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BP Chief Meets Russian Billionaire in TNK-BP Dispute

BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward met with Mikhail Fridman, one of the billionaire owners of oil venture TNK-BP, as the two sides seek to resolve a shareholder dispute threatening Russia’s third-biggest crude producer.Today’s meeting “was constructive and discussions will continue,” Vladimir Buyanov, a spokesman for BP, said by phone today. The two men met in early afternoon before Hayward left for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, he said.

Fridman, whose Alfa Group also has interests in banking and telecommunications, and his partners in the Russian half of TNK-BP called last week for the dismissal of TNK-BP CEO Robert Dudley, saying the 52-year-old American was putting London-based BP’s interests before their plans to expand abroad and decrease foreign staff. Hayward refused, they said on May 30.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aVLRVWjj35qM