Russia: BP's Hayward Meeting To Focus On Rosneft Stake

28th Jun 2010 12:29

MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--BP PLC (BP) Chief Executive Tony Hayward will discuss his company's stake in Russian state oil giant OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) during a meeting with officials in Moscow, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's office said Monday. Hayward will meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who is also the chairman of Rosneft, on Monday, Putin's spokesman said, adding that a meeting between Hayward and Putin was "never discussed." Separately, BP Monday denied Russian media reports, citing comments from Sechin, that Hayward will soon resign as BP's chief. Hayward remains chief executive and the BP board of directors isn't discussing his removal or replacement, a BP spokeswoman said. BP's international problems are "not the agenda for us, since what's actually important is the stake in Rosneft and general long-term cooperation with the company," Putin's spokesman said by telephone. BP's major joint venture in Russia, TNK-BP International (TNBP.RS) is a "corporate issue" and won't be the focus of the Moscow meetings, he said. BP has taken new steps to bolster its cash and available credit, adding $5 billion to its oil-spill war chest amid deepening concerns about the escalating costs of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. BP has arranged more than $3 billion in new unsecured bank credit lines in the past week and had picked up $2 billion in cash borrowed against BP's stake in Rosneft, the state-controlled Russian oil company, and other assets, The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K. embassy in Moscow had no immediate comment on the BP visit. -By William Mauldin, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 232-9192; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 28, 2010 07:29 ET (11:29 GMT)