BP to challenge Siberian court’s $3bn payout

British oil giant BP was today ordered to pay a Russian partner $3billion (£1bn) in damages by a Siberian court. The lawsuit against BP was brought by a group of […]

British oil giant BP was today ordered to pay a Russian partner $3billion (£1bn) in damages by a Siberian court.

The lawsuit against BP was brought by a group of minority shareholders in its venture TNK-BP. The oil firm has been told to pay up after the collapse of a deal to explore the Arctic with Russia’s state oil firm Rosneft back in 2011.

But the oil firm claims the ruling was “unjustified” and intends to challenge it.

BP said in a statement: “We consider the Court decision as unjustified. Today’s ruling will be challenged in the court of appeal. All the plaintiff’s arguments are based on absurd assumptions and are not related to either the company’s interests, or the interests of its shareholders.”

It claims TNK-BP “did not suffer and could not have suffered any damages”, adding: “We consider this claim as an attempted corporate attack and believe that today’s ruling should be cancelled.”

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