BP is in line for dividends worth hundreds of millions of pounds from Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft even after it pledged to divest its stake in the company.
The FTSE 100 oil and gas giant still owns just under 20% of Rosneft and is therefore entitled to its share of Rosneft’s 441bn ruble (£6.4bn) payment for 2021, for worth approximately £1.2 billion.
Just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Rosneft paid BP a $464 million dividend to cover the first half of 2021, but is still entitled to the payment for the second half.
However, it is unclear whether he will receive the second payment as Russia reacts with sanctions imposed on the West over its war against Ukraine.
Russia initially banned companies from paying dividends to foreign shareholders, then blocked payments to companies from “unfriendly” countries such as the UK and US.
The funds are put into restricted accounts, with Russian approval to take the money out of Russia. BP does not recognize this as dividend income.
BP said in February it would sell the Rosneft stake and has written it down to zero in its accounts.
However, it has limited options, with Russia blocking the sale of certain assets and a limited pool of buyers.