Russian police raided the office of British oil major BP in central Moscow on Tuesday, a spokesman for the company told AFP, two months after similar raids by Russia's secret service.<br/><br/>Asked if police had raided the office, the spokesman, Vladimir Buyanov, said: "Yes.... I can confirm that there is an investigation."<br/><br/>He declined to give further details but said that the work of the Moscow office had not been affected.<br/><br/>The raid is the latest probe of the British company, which is joint owner of Russia's third biggest oil producer, TNK-BP.<br/><br/>Analysts say the investigations are aimed at a shake-up of relations with the company, with the Russian state possibly winning new oil assets.<br/><br/>Officers from Russia's Federal Security Service raided the offices of BP and TNK-BP in March, charging one TNK-BP employee who holds Russian and US citizenship with industrial espionage.<br/><br/>TNK-BP is also currently being challenged in the Russian courts by a minority shareholder for allegedly harming the company's interests by hiring foreign specialists from BP.<br/><br/>TNK-BP, which was set up in 2003, is jointly owned by BP and a group of Russian investors. It has faced growing pressure in Russia, where the state has reasserted control in the lucrative oil and gas industries.<br/><br/>Energy analysts have said that pressure on TNK-BP may be aimed at getting better conditions for the planned purchase of a major stake in Russia's third largest oil producer by state-controlled gas giant Gazprom.<br/><br/>The Vedomosti business daily last month cited sources at Gazprom and TNK-BP saying there was a deal to sell a controlling stake in the British-Russian oil major to Gazprom for 20 billion dollars by the end of the year.<br/><br/>TNK-BP sold Gazprom a majority stake in the vast Kovykta gas field in Siberia at a heavily discounted price last year after coming under pressure from Russian officials for alleged breach of contract.<br/><br/>
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