In Great Britain, one of the largest companies has created facts: The energy company BP announced that it is selling its stake in the Russian state oil company Rosneft. It’s about 19.75 percent of Rosneft shares, which BP has held since 2013. In addition, BP boss Bernard Looney and his predecessor Bob Dudley are giving up their seats on the supervisory board of the Russian state-owned company with immediate effect. The control body is headed by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD). Because of the exit, BP will write off up to $25 billion. On Monday, the stock broke at times by more than seven percent.
However, the step by BP was apparently not entirely voluntary. Already on Friday, the British Minister for Economic Affairs, Kwasi Kwarteng, summoned the BP boss and apparently put quite a lot of pressure on him to cut the connection to Rosneft. It then lasted until Sunday evening when Looney declared that the events in Ukraine had triggered a “fundamental realignment” in the relationship between BP and Rosneft. The priority is taking care of the people in the region. The decision is also in the long-term interests of the group.
BP chief supervisor Helge Lund described the Russian attack on Ukraine as an “act of aggression that will have tragic consequences across the region.” BP has worked with “brilliant Russian colleagues” in Russia for 30 years, but the military deployment represents a fundamental change. The board has therefore decided that the participation in the Russian state-owned company cannot be continued. Economics Minister Kwarteng welcomed the step. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must be “a wake-up call for British companies that have business interests in Putin’s Russia.”