Norex v. Blavatnik, Vekselberg, BP, Alfa, TNK, TNK-BP, et al.
In March 2011, Norex commenced a lawsuit against various defendants, including BP, New
York resident Billionaire Russian expatriates Len Blavatnik and Victor Vekselberg,
Tyumen Oil Company ("TNK"), a Russian company they owned, and TNK and BP's joint
venture, TNK-BP, in New York Supreme Court based upon defendants' unlawful seizure of
Norex's majority interest in Yugraneft, a Russian oil company with a lucrative oil field
in the Tyumen region of Western Siberia. On September 16, 2011, defendants moved to
dismiss Norex's complaint, and on October 26, 2011, Norex filed its opposition papers in
the New York state court. We have made available the parties' public filings on this
website. A chronology of events, as well as several key documents relating to the
dispute, can also be found on the website. Those newly discovered documents demonstrate
that BP was aware of and complicit with illegal conduct by TNK and the Russian Oligarchs
named in the Complaint.
Statement from Alex Rotzang, Chairman of Norex Petroleum Limited:
The idea that BP had nothing to do with the Russian Oligarchs and TNK at the time of the
illegal takeover of Yugraneft is preposterous. BP may certainly wish to forget its
historical involvement with TNK, but it would be revisionist history to suggest that BP
had nothing to do with TNK at the time. BP was an investor in Sidanko, which owned
Chernogorneft, which, in turn, had a 40% interest in Yugraneft, and BP lost its own
derivative interest in Yugraneft when TNK took over Chernogorneft in a corrupt and
trumped up bankruptcy which BP unsuccessfully attempted to fight against. After losing
the battle and becoming a victim of the Russian Oligarchs and TNK's corporate raiding
tactics itself in the late 1990s, BP decided to make a "deal with the devil" in 2003
AS BP'S OWN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS REFLECT. BP PAID THE RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS $6.5
BILLION DOLLARS to join forces with TNK to form TNK-BP as a 50/50 joint venture to
protect its interests in Russia. At the time, BP knew full well, and from direct, up
close and personal experience, that TNK had misappropriated Yugraneft's valuable oil
field, which was, and continues to be, an important component of TNK-BP's oil well
assets, generating AT LEAST $ 1 BILLION in oil revenues over the last decade. Under
well-established New York law, the Russian Oligarchs and TNK's prior bad acts in
furtherance of the conspiracy to deprive Norex of its rightful interest in and profits
from Yugraneft are imputed to BP even though BP did not join the conspiracy until 2003.
The irony is that BP has recently been on the receiving end of the Russian Oligarchs'
strong-arm corporate raiding tactics, including, significantly, the expulsion of BP's
now CEO, and TNK-BP's then President, Robert Dudley from Russia in 2008. As BP's own
internal documents reflect, Dudley went into hiding out of fear for his safety. More
recently, the Russian Oligarchs' killing of the multi-billion dollar BP / Rosneft deal,
including the initiation of lawsuits against BP, led to the raids of BP's Moscow office
just weeks ago for documents by armed bailiffs under the "authority" of the Russian
court in which the action against BP is now pending. BP has gone on record decrying the
lawlessness of these proceedings and the Russian Oligarchs and TNK's strong-arm tactics.
Indeed, British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
shortly after the raids to discuss his "real" concerns about these and other recent
events in Russia, noting that British businesses needed to "have faith that the state,
the judiciary and the police will protect their hard work and not put the obstacles of
bureaucracy, regulation and corruption in their way." Whether it chooses to admit it or
not, BP is now suffering the consequences of its "Faustian bargain" with TNK.
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