British Petroleum has withdrawn 148 staff from Moscow, less than a week after a raid on one of their joint venture offices. A low level employee of TNK-BP was charged with industrial spying last week.
The reason for the temporary recall of staff is lack of clarity over their current visa status, the company says. Around 40 senior bosses, who are ex-BP top managers, remain working at their current posts in Moscow. Company spokesperson, Marina Drachyova, said the reason for such measures is the lack of clarity over employees’ current visa stance. Nevertheless, all of them are to stay in Russia for now.