Last time we checked in on the messy state of affairs with TNK-BP, the company was in serious turmoil, with a straight-talking CEO about to get the boot, and arch-silovik Igor Sechin set on preventing any state intervention in the dispute. It finally seemed clear that the dispute was between BP and their local Russian partners over dividends and re-investment in production, with the latter party (the three billionaires Len Blavatnik, Viktor Vekselberg and Mikhail Fridman) threatening to sell their stake to Gazprom (or even to Rosneft, according to some reports). However, other analysts say that the dispute is being driven by state pressures to take over a stake in the company – which neither the Russians nor BP want to give up. Things have only gotten worse since.