Just as restrictions on visa applications for BP-TNK's non-Russian senior management appeared to be easing yesterday, one of the joint venture's oligarch shareholders stepped up the pressure again with renewed calls for the dismissal of the British chief executive.

The Russian government's Federal Migration Service has now accepted 49 visa applications, including those from the joint venture's senior management, after reports that key staff could be forced to leave the country when their permits expire at the end of the month. But the problems are not entirely resolved. ... Read full article