1997
BP paid $571m to buy a 10% stake in Sidanko, then Russia‘s fifth-largest oil company and part of the UNEXIM-MFK banking group controlled by oligarch Vladimir Potanin.
2003
BP established Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, as a result of the merger of Russian companies TNK, Sidanko and Onako with the majority of BP’s Russian oil assets. The company was 50% owned by BP and 50% owned by a group of oilgarchs – Viktor Vekselberg, Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Len Blavatnik – operating as the AAR group.
March 2008
BP is forced to suspend 148 staff in Russia in a dispute over visas a week after a police raid on Moscow offices of BP and TNK-BP.
May 2008
TNK-BP chief executive Bob Dudley admits disagreements with the oilgarchs.
July 2008
Dudley leaves Russia citing harassment after being refused a new work visa and resigns from his post in December.
January 2009
Shareholders finalised a deal under which BP ceded influence to AAR. Previously, half the board was appointed by BP and half by AAR.
November 2009
Maxim Barsky nominated as the new chief of TNK-BP.
July 2010
Dudley named as new boss of BP after Tony Hayward quits in the wake of Deepwater Horizon disaster.
January 2011
BP and Rosneft agreed to a $16bn share swap, under which they plan to jointly explore for offshore oil and gas in the Russian Arctic.
May 2011
The deal with Rosneft collapses after AAR wins an injunction in a court of arbitration. Subsequent attempt by Rosneft and AAR to buy out AAR’s stake failed as well.
October 2011
Barsky quits. Mikhail Fridman, one of the four tycoons in the AAR consortium, takes the reins as an interim chief executive.
June 2012
BP said it would pursue a sale of its stake in TNK-BP after receiving expressions of interest. Rosneft said it is in talks with BP to buy half of TNK-BP.
October 2012
AAR has agreed to sell its stake to Rosneft for $28 billion, according to a source.