BP Sues TNK-BP Russia Partners

MOSCOW -- Fighting back amid a deepening rift within its TNK-BP Ltd. joint venture, BP PLC has sued its Russian partners to recover a $370 million debt.

BP filed the suit against the Russian partners -- led by billionaires Mikhail Fridman, Viktor Vekselberg and Len Blavatnik -- in High Court in London on June 30, a spokesman said.

The debt stems from back-tax claims predating the creation of TNK-BP against one of the companies that the Russian partners put into TNK-BP when it was set up in 2003. A representative of the Russian shareholders said they viewed the amount BP ...