BP’s Russian joint venture partners have called an extraordinary board meeting aimed at dislodging Robert Dudley as chief executive of TNK-BP.

The AAR consortium, which represents the four Russian oligarchs who own 50 per cent of TNK-BP, said that the meeting would take place in Moscow on Monday. A statement from AAR said that the meeting of the board of TNK-BP Management, a leading TNK-BP subsidiary, had been requested by Viktor Vekselberg, one of the main Russian shareholders. It cited “repeated infringements by Mr Dudley of Russian employment, migration and tax laws”.

BP rejected the announcement as a publicity stunt and reiterated its support for Mr Dudley, saying that it had full confidence in his leadership.

It also emerged yesterday that AAR had hired Hudson Sandler, a London PR agency, to spearhead an international charm offensive.

Details of the meeting emerged after the Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) promised to approve work permits for 49 senior managers of TNK-BP, helping to soothe fears that top executives, including Mr Dudley, could be expelled from Moscow this month. The FMS said that applications for the overseas staff of TNK-BP, most of whom are former BP employees, had been accepted and would be processed within ten days. “We will speed up the process for those whose visas expire earlier,” a spokesman said. “We are making concessions . . . no one will have to leave Russia.”

Mr Dudley told staff in an e-mail on Tuesday that he and dozens of other expatriate staff probably would be forced to leave Moscow this month when their visas expired. However, a spokesman for BP in London played down the Russian visa announcement, pointing out that the situation would remain unclear until the permits had been issued.

“This is a first step and we look forward to those work permits and visas being approved and issued,” he said. “Unless additional permits are accepted and granted, at least half the non-Russian staff, recruited from a number of firms around the world, will be ejected from Russia.”

BP is immersed in an increasingly bitter power struggle for control of TNK-BP with AAR, the investment vehicle controlled by Mr Vekselberg, Len Blavatnik, Mikhail Fridman and German Khan. They have accused TNK-BP of poor performance and say that Mr Dudley is serving only the interests of BP.

In recent weeks the joint venture has been subjected to an apparent intimidation campaign, including unexplained raids by security agents, tax inquiries and environmental investigations. It came as Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, called for a thawing of relations with Britain in an interview yesterday. “There has to be a willingness to find compromises and listen to your partner. Russia is ready to move, but we expect corresponding steps from our British partners,” he said.

Gordon Brown is expected to meet President Medvedev at the G8 summit in Japan on Monday. The two leaders are expected to discuss TNK-BP, among other topics, during their first bilateral talks.

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