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*Updated: Thu, Jul 12 3:13 PM EDT*
MOSCOW (CP) - Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Thursday he will ask Russian President Vladimir Putin about the seizure of a Canadian-owned oil company by armed men representing a rival company in Russia.
But Chretien played down expectations that his intervention would bring a quick resolution to the dispute between Calgary-based Norex Petroleum Ltd. and Siberian oil conglomerate TNK.
"I will bring that up with Putin," Chretien said after arriving in Moscow to lobby the International Olympic Committee in support of Toronto's bid for the 2008 Olympics.
"But I don't live here, I'm not a lawyer in the case," the prime minister said. "But most probably the (Russian) government will reply to us: 'There are courts here too'."
"I will mention that it's one of the problems of Russia, that they're trying to create the proper climate for investment."
Norex has complained that the takeover of its property by TNK was abetted by local courts and authorities. Norex executives were hoping Chretien could do something about it.
A senior Canadian official who asked not to be named said Canada is deeply concerned about the Norex affair but will probably pursue it through different channels.
A special intergovernmental commission was created last year to examine problems that crop up in the troubled Canada-Russia economic relationship.
"We have written a letter to the commission, to raise the (Norex) problem," the official said. "That is the appropriate thing to do."
"Clearly, the image of Russia that is created by the problems that foreign investors run into here is pretty bad," the official added.
Chretien is scheduled to have lunch with Putin on Friday.
Aside from Norex, the two leaders may talk about issues such as the U.S. plan to build a missile-defence shield, Russia's hopes that Canada would support a treaty banning weapons from outer space, and the deteriorating human-rights situation in Russia's war-torn region of Chechnya.
Chretien said he will spend the first two days of his three-day visit lobbying hard for Toronto's bid to host the 2008 Olympics.
"I think we're offering the best bid, no doubt about it," he said.
Chretien and his wife, Aline, spent Thursday evening at the Bolshoi Theatre, attending a gala performance of the ballet Giselle staged for IOC delegates. Chretien said he would mingle with the delegates during the two intermissions.
The IOC will decide on the venue for the 2008 Olympics at a meeting in Moscow on Friday. Beijing, Toronto and Paris are believed to be frontrunners.
Chretien will be on hand when Toronto makes its presentation to the IOC Friday morning, though he said he does not expect to make a speech there.
"I was told it was important for me to be here," Chretien said. "We have to show that we're committed to have the best games in Toronto, and we can do it better than anybody else."
Chretien's meetings with Putin and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov were meant to be largely symbolic goodwill talks.
Two weeks ago, however, armed guards hired by TNK, the Russian oil giant, stormed into the offices of Yugraneft - 60-per-cent-owned by Norex - and surrounded its Siberian oilfield and base camp.
A minority shareholder in Yugraneft, TNK had used a legal technicality to freeze the Canadian owners out of a shareholders meeting and then appointed its own managers to take over the firm.
"I would like to see Chretien ask Putin to use his vast power to get to the bottom of what has happened here," said Alex Rotzang, chairman of Norex.
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