Viktor Vekselberg, one of the four Russian co-owners of half of TNK-BP said on Thursday he has no plans to sell his stake in the joint venture.
“No, I am not considering selling [my stake],” Vekselberg said.
British oil major BP currently holds a 50 percent stake in the venture, along with AAR, a group of four Russian billionaires. BP said last week it wanted to sell its 50 percent stake, which market participants estimating could be worth as much as $32 billion.
Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company, announced on Tuesday it would commence talks with BP to purchase BP’s stake.
The AAR consortium comprises Alfa-Group owned by Mikhail Fridman with 25 percent, Renova controlled by Viktor Vekselberg with 12.5 percent and Access Industries possessed by Leonard Blavatnik with 12.5 percent.
BP and AAR have been locked in a long-running dispute over management of their Russian joint venture, which resulted in the replacement of the former TNK-BP CEO Robert Dudley in 2008. Dudley has subsequently become head of BP.
Fridman resigned as TNK-BP’s CEO in late May due to what he called a collapse of corporate management.