The battle for control of TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil producer, could be resolved within days, Viktor Vekselberg, one of its major shareholders, said yesterday.

Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, was in Moscow to talk to other shareholders in the joint venture after a clash over TNK's strategy.

The dispute between BP and its Russian partners has been seen as part of a wider attempt by the Kremlin to take control of the oil producer.

It summoned Robert Dudley, TNK-BP's chief executive, last week to answer allegations of tax avoidance by the company. The Kremlin used similar allegations to bankrupt Yukos, another oil producer, and then sold its assets to state-owned Rosneft.

Mr Hayward met TNK shareholders including Mr Vekselberg, Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Peter Aven yesterday. He also met Igor Sechin, Russia's deputy prime minister and chairman of Rosneft.

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