{"id":94223,"title":"BP will sell its stake in Rosneft amid the Ukraine conflict","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2022-02-27T18:52:19+00:00","modified":"2022-02-27T18:52:19+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/bp-will-sell-its-stake-in-rosneft-amid-the-ukraine-conflict/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/bp-will-sell-its-stake-in-rosneft-amid-the-ukraine-conflict.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/bp-will-sell-its-stake-in-rosneft-amid-the-ukraine-conflict.json","category":"Blogs","categories":["Blogs","Energy"],"tags":["BP","Igor Sechin","Kwasi Kwarteng","Rosneft","Russia","Ukraine","Vladimir Putin"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stencil-Google-Chrome-2023-04-19-at-2.47.43-PM.jpeg?fit=1231%2C615&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"BP will sell its 19.75% share in Russian state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft following Russia’s “act in aggression in Ukraine”.\n\nAfter Thursday’s invasion, the UK government had put pressure on the oil giant to move. Since 2013, it has been holding the Russian shareholding.\n\nBernard Looney, chief executive of BP, has resigned with immediate effect from Rosneft’s board. Bob Dudley was also nominated by BP.\n\nRosneft chairman Igor Sechin and Mr Looney, both close friends and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, have been members of the board since 2020.\n\nAccording to the PA Newsagency, Mr Looney was in Russia as recently as October. He appeared on a panel alongside Mr Putin. This was later described by Mr Looney as a “privilege”.\n\nBusiness Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met with the BP boss Friday and left him “no doubt” about the seriousness of government concerns over BP’s exposure to Russian interests. According to an official\n\nHelge Lund, chairman of BP, stated that while BP has been operating in Russia for over 30 years and has “brilliant Russian counterparts”, Russia’s attack against Ukraine was “having tragic results across the region” as a fundamental shift.\n\n“It led to the BP board concluding, after a thorough procedure, that our involvement in Rosneft (a state-owned enterprise) simply cannot continue.”\n\nBP’s stake in Russian state oil giant Rosneft was always a source of concern; it was made untenable this week by heavy political pressure.\n\nIgor Sechin is President Putin’s close ally and Rosneft chairman. Rosneft provides fuel for the Russian army.\n\nIt was impossible to sell the stake immediately to an inappropriate buyer.\n\nThe company decided to “divest”, which means it will cut all financial ties with Rosneft and stop taking a dividend. It will also step back from its two seats on the board.\n\nOfficials at the company claim that it is too early to know how this stake will be sold. This will be a major financial hit for BP, but it is a price they had to pay.\n\nLooney stated that he was “deeply shocked” and “saddened” by the current situation in Ukraine. It had forced BP to fundamentally rethink its position with Rosneft.\n\nHe stated, “I am certain that the decisions we made as a board were not only the right things to do but also in the long-term interest of BP.”\n\nKwarteng praised the move and said: “Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine must be a wake-up call for British businesses that have commercial interests in Putin’s Russia.”\n\nRosneft accounted for $2.7bn (£2bn), or about a fifth, of BP’s annual profits as of the latest BP results published two weeks ago.\n\nThe London-based multinational admitted last year that Russia’s sanctions could pose a problem for its business. This is after several western countries imposed economic sanctions against Russia, including the exclusion of many banks from the Swift international payments system.\n\nAfter Russia invaded Ukraine, oil prices soared to $100 per barrel"}