Russia summons TNK-BP CEO

By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Ekaterina Golubkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will question the chief executive of oil major BP's Russian venture as part of a probe into tax evasion at a unit of the embattled company, which many analysts expect to fall under the control of a state firm.

TNK-BP said in a statement on Thursday that a local Interior Ministry department has issued a summons to TNK-BP Chief Executive Robert Dudley as part of a tax probe into OAO TNK's activities in 2001-2003.

People with knowledge of the situation said the authorities plan to question Dudley next week in a case seen as a test for investment in Russia under new President Dmitry Medvedev.

"This is exactly the kind of issue that is making Medvedev's life so difficult as he tries to rebrand Russia as an attractive investment location," said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Moscow-based investment bank UralSib.

"The fate of TNK-BP is a major test for how the government views the investment climate."

Mounting pressure on TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil producer, points to the likelihood the firm will have to sell a stake to a state firm such as Gazprom, analysts have said.

Dudley's summons come on top of other problems at the firm, including the arrest of a TNK-BP employee on an industrial espionage charge, a raid on the company's central Moscow offices and a court injunction to stop it using BP specialists.

"We confirm the information that Robert Dudley has received a summons to the Investigative division of the Main Department of the Ministry of Interior in the Central Federal Region," TNK-BP said in a statement on Thursday.