Second TNK-BP executive resigns
TNK-BP, the Russian joint venture of BP, suffered another setback yesterday with the resignation of a second senior executive in less than a month.
Anthony Considine, the companys head of downstream business, responsible for its oil refining, trading and marketing businesses, is leaving after five years to pursue other opportunities as the battle for control of the business escalates.
It is understood that Mr Considine, who will leave Moscow on September 15, was not hounded out of the city but felt that he could no longer add anything to the business given the present volatile circumstances. He also wanted to rejoin his family, who recently moved back to Australia.
Mr Considine, previously an employee of BP, had been at the business since it started operations in August 2003 and was a member of its management board.
Tim Summers, TNK-BPs chief operating officer, said that he regretted losing Mr Considine and that his team had embodied what TNK-BP was set up to achieve – a unique and powerful blend of Russian and international expertise.
His resignation follows that of James Owen, the chief financial officer, who resigned this month citing the increasingly hostile fight over the venture between BP and its Russian shareholders. The business has had its offices raided by the Russian authorities and visas denied for BP staff.
In late July Bob Dudley, the chief executive, fled Moscow after the withdrawal of his work visa. He is now running the company from an undisclosed base in Central Europe.
Mr Dudley subsequently was banned from working in Russia for two years after authorities accused him of labour violations. In response he has filed a formal complaint and has accused the Russian State Labour Inspectorate of an abuse of power. He also alleges he was the victim of an intense campaign of harassment. AAR wants to remove Mr Dudley, whom it accuses of favouring BP.
The Moscow-based TNK-BP is Russias third-biggest producer of crude oil and has been involved in a shareholder row between its two 50 per cent co-owners: BP and AAR, a consortium of four Russian billionaires. The two sides have fallen out over management and strategy but are expected to meet next month to try to resolve the feud and also to consider a partial flotation of the group.
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
