Russian planned for BP board
British oil giant BP, which wants to buy a stake in Russian state-controlled rival Rosneft, plans to appoint a prominent Russian to its board of directors as part of a new commercial alliance with the Kremlin, it was reported yesterday. Bob Dudley, BP’s chief executive, discussed the plan with Vladimir Putin last week at a meeting at the Russian president’s retreat on the Black Sea, The Sunday Times reported.
The appointment of a Russian director to BP’s 15-strong board would be a first in the company’s 104-year history, it added. Dudley and chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg put a proposal to buy a stake in Rosneft to Putin tomorrow, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said on Friday.