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BP received no warnings from US officials over Rosneft — CEO

"I haven’t read it, I haven’t heard it, so I really wouldn’t be able to comment," he added
BP CEO Bob Dudley Ilya Dmitryachev/TASS
BP CEO Bob Dudley
© Ilya Dmitryachev/TASS

HOUSTON /Texas/, March 13. /TASS/. Multinational oil giant British Petroleum (BP), which holds a 19.75-percent stake in Russia’s Rosneft, has so far received no warnings from Washington following the US government’s accusations against the Russian company, BP CEO Bob Dudley told reporters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference on Tuesday.

When asked whether he received any warnings or notifications from the US administration, Dudley replied: "No, I haven’t."

"I haven’t read it, I haven’t heard it, so I really wouldn’t be able to comment," he added. "I did not actually hear about that."

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo earlier said that Rosneft was defying US sanctions by continuing to purchase oil from Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA, The Russian company replied by saying that it does not engage in politics, its activities are purely commercial and are carried out for the benefit of the shareholders.

SPIEF participation

Dudley also confirmed his plans to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), to be held in Russia’s second largest city on June 6-8.

"Yes, definitely," he said, answering to a reporter’s question. 

Earlier, Financial Times wrote that the US ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, may boycott the event due to the arrest of Baring Vostok investment fund’s founder, Michael Calvey, who is the key defendant in a 2.5 bln rubles ($37.5 mln) embezzlement case. An embassy spokesperson confirmed the information in an interview with Russia’s Kommersant daily.

According to Financial Times, US business leaders may also choose to skip the event.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the Kremlin was aware of foreign businesses’ concerns in connection with the Calvey case, but vowed that the Russian government’s support for foreign investors was "unshakable." The Kremlin spokesman added that media reports of a possible boycott emerge every year ahead of the SPIEF and the Eastern Economic Forum, but all of them have so far proved to be wrong.