BP calls TNK-BP partners raiders

By Simon Johnson

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Oil major BP (BP.L) accused its Russian billionaire partners in TNK-BP of trying to wrest control of their joint venture and said the Kremlin was doing nothing to stop them.

BP Chairman Peter Sutherland said that the dispute between BP, which owns 50 percent of TNK-BP, and the oligarchs which own the other half, was about control and possibly even ownership of Russia's third-largest oil producer, rather than the operational matters of which the Russians complained.

"This is just a return to the corporate raiding activities that were prevalent in Russia in the 1990s. Prime Minister Putin has referred to these tactics as relics of the 1990s, but unfortunately our partners continue to use them," Sutherland told a press conference in Stockholm on Thursday.

"The leaders of the country seem unwilling or unable to step in and stop them. This is bad for us, bad for the company and of course very bad for Russia".

A spokesman for the billionaires was not available for comment.

The battle between BP and its partners has become increasingly hostile and public in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, the quartet of Russian billionaires -- German Khan and Mikhail Fridman of Alfa Group, Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik -- said they would sue the British company after it rejected their demands for more boardroom clout.

They plan legal challenges in the international arbitration court in Stockholm and in Russia.