LONDON, June 1 (Xinhua) -- British oil giant BP announced on Friday its plan to sell stake in TNK-BP joint venture.
BP said in a statement that it has received "unsolicited indications of interest" regarding a potential acquisition of BP's shares in TNK-BP.
It also said that the other shareholder of TNK-BP, the Russian consortium Alfa Access Renova (AAR), intends to pursue a stake sale. But it added that there was no guarantee that such a transaction would take place.
BP and AAR co-founded TNK-BP in 2003, each with a 50-percent stake in the joint venture, following a merger of BP's Russian oil and gas assets and those of AAR.
Relationship between the two sides became under strain after BP had to abandon plans of forming another joint venture with the rival Russian oil firm Rosneft last year because of AAR's strong opposition even with a legal challenge.
Earlier in the week, Mikhail Fridman, TNK-BP's chief executive, announced he would be stepping down in 30 days "for personal reasons."
TNK-BP is the third largest oil producer in Russia, having operations also in Ukraine, Brazil, Venezuela and Vietnam.
