TNK-BP CEO may have to leave Russia - source

MOSCOW, July 1 (Reuters) - The head of BP's (BP.L) Russian oil venture TNK-BP may have to leave Russia within weeks, at least temporarily, due to work permit problems as a corporate row escalates at the company, a source said on Tuesday.

"Everybody, including (chief executive) Bob (Dudley) and (chief financial officer) James Owen will have to be out of here unless a quick solution is found," a person with direct knowledge of the situation at TNK-BP told Reuters.

"It is a pure formality and the Russian government is creating a problem for themselves," the source said.

BP and its partners, four Russian or Russian-born billionaires, have been locked in a dispute over the firm's strategy and management tactics for several months.

The Russians have accused BP of limiting TNK-BP's expansion abroad and have demanded that Dudley, a former BP executive, should resign. They blame him for what they say is poor operating performance and for improperly favouring BP.

BP says Dudley has behaved correctly and that the firm's performance compares well to its peers.

It has in turn accused the Russian partners of "corporate raiding", saying they are trying to improperly wrest control of the venture by limiting the number of foreign employees and unfairly criticising BP-nominated managers.

Many analysts suspect the row is mainly about the future ownership of the firm and have speculated that the Kremlin may want to take control of TNK-BP by either buying out BP or the Russian owners to strengthen its grip on the energy sector.

But both BP and the Russian owners have repeatedly vowed not to sell out any time soon and the government has denied it is seeking a stake.

Russian authorities including President Dmitry Medvedev have said the two sides should solve the conflict according to the law and in line with their shareholder agreement, without seeking state interference.

RUNNING OUT OF TIME

The Russian shareholders are determined to limit Dudley's influence in the company and have already filed lawsuits to reverse last week's election of a nine-seat board of TNK-BP's traded unit, TNK-BP Holding. They say five out of nine members, who were nominated by Dudley, represent the interests of BP.

Sources with knowledge of the situation at TNK-BP said on Monday that billionaire German Khan, one of the Russian shareholders and a TNK-BP executive director, had requested to the authorities in a private letter that the quota of international specialists at TNK-BP be lowered to 63.

This move was not agreed with BP or Dudley, they added.

Dudley had applied to the Moscow authorities to extend working permits for a total of 146 international specialists at TNK-BP but the city on Monday cleared the request for only 71 specialists.

The source said Dudley, Owen and the majority of other top managers were within the approved quota.

"But it will take at least six weeks to sort out the visa and working permit issues, so they are already running out of time. Everyone will have to leave Russia within a week or by the end of the month," the source said.

Dudley's visa expires on July 30. Owen's visa expires this week. Vice president for strategy Kris Sliger and vice president for technology Richard Herbert will also have to leave. (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Louise Ireland)