BP’s Moscow Office Raided by Bailiffs

Russian bailiffs accompanied by security agents armed with assault rifles raided the offices of BP in Moscow on Wednesday related to a minority shareholder’s lawsuit, according to media reports.

The oil giant decried the move by Russian authorities and said there was no “legitimate basis” for the raid, reported AFP.

The bailiffs raided the office in order to find documents related to BP’s deal with Rosneft, the Russian state-run oil company, regarding Arctic oil exploration that had failed. A decision by the Siberian regional court prompted the raid.

The minority shareholder, Andrei Prokhorov, is suing BP for allowing the deal to fall through and is seeking around $3 billion in damages.

An attorney for Prokhorov told The Associated Press that the raid was to enforce the ruling of the Siberian court handed down on Tuesday, which ordered BP to give documents related to the Arctic deal.

BP stated that it would cooperate with Russian authorities. “Did they expect to meet any resistance here?” BP Moscow spokesperson Vladimir Buyanov told AP after the armed officers came into the office.