The relationship between BP and the shareholders in its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, Russia’s third largest oil firm, has very publicly fallen apart, reports Britain’s The Guardian newspaper:

Yesterday BP and the Russian shareholders were forced to acknowledge differences over strategy, with the Russian billionaires who own 50% of the company arguing that TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil producer, should be able to expand abroad even if that meant its coming into direct competition with BP itself.

There have been months of speculation in Russia that the state-controlled energy company Gazprom wants to buy a majority stake in TNK-BP. Neither BP nor the Russian shareholders say they are prepared to sell.

“Like other cash-rich sovereign wealth funds, or SWFs for short,” says Justice Litle in Taipan Daily, “Russia plans to invest its massive pile in high-quality foreign stocks around the globe.

“In case you haven’t noticed, the truly exciting growth these days is no longer confined to the U.S. and Europe. Instead it’s found in countries like China, India, Brazil, Malaysia, Taiwan, Turkey, South Africa and so on. Emerging market economies are growing by leaps and bounds.

“In this 21st-century world that looks so very different from the 20th, the best combination of safety and growth can be found in strong international companies… the same type of companies that Russia will be plowing its cash into.”

Manraaj Singh in Profit Watch says, “Russia is storming ahead.”

“The economy grew by 8.1% last year and should grow by 6.8% this year. And the average Russian will earn 75% more this year than he did in 2006. The average income was just $6,924 in 2006, but it should reach $12,013 this year. And that should hit $25,091 in just five years, according to the IMF.

“And that’s not all… Yesterday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin approved Russia’s biggest spending project since the collapse of the Soviet Union. They’re going to spend US$570 billion to overhaul and expand the country’s transportation infrastructure over the next seven years. And about time as well.”