ROBERT DUDLEY, the embattled chief executive of TNK-BP, has accused the group’s Russian shareholders of “deliberately polarising the organisation along nationalistic lines” and warned that their efforts to oust him “will surely destroy value in our company”.

Dudley issued the rebuke via a letter to employees on Friday, after he received a 10-day reprieve from Russian immigration authorities to give him time to extend his visa, which was set to expire last week. If he does not geta new visa, he will be forced to leave Russia by July 29.

The letter marks a new low for relations between BP and AAR - the consortium headed by Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman, Leonard Blavatnik, German Khan and Viktor Vekselberg - with whom it shares ownership of TNK-BP. AAR has repeatedly called for Dudley’s dismissal.

The situation was further inflamed this weekend when it emerged that BP had drawn up contingency plans to ensure Dudley will continue to run the company even if he is forced to leave the country. “He is the chief executive and will continue to be,” a BP spokesman said.

The company has hired Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners, an influential Russian law firm, to advise it on the visa issue and other matters. An AAR spokesman said: “This intransigence in not appointing an independent chief executive at the request of shareholders of 50% of the company is extraordinary.”

AAR alleges that Dudley runs the company as a subsidiary of BP and relies too heavily on expensive foreign workers. Several TNK-BP managers filed a discrimination lawsuit against Dudley last week.

In his letter, Dudley dismissed the suit as part of an “orchestrated misinformation campaign” and said that the company’s combined Russian and international staff was one of its key strengths.

“It seems clear that some people are now setting out to destroy this model; to bring the shareholder dispute right into our company; to create divisions and to encourage staff to take sides with no regard for the company, its staff, other shareholders or Russia’s reputation as a place for investors and foreigners to be able to work.”

He added: “The new risk to our performance is the unpleasant and divisive prejudice now being fanned inside and outside our company.”

At a board meeting this month AAR proposed Dudley’s removal, but was voted down. There was also disagreement over a planned $1.8 billion (£900m) dividend payout.

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