Lately it seems unclear whether or not all of BP’s problems with its Russian subsidiary TNK-BP, which have included arrests, office raids, and visa problems, are related to a campaign from the government to take over a majority stake – or rather just enduring conflicts with their private sector Russian partners, the immensely powerful billionaires Len Blavatnik, Viktor Vekselberg and Mikhail Fridman. Many have observed these moves from the Kremlin as a prelude to expropriation, but a new report from the Wall Street Journal speculates that all of TNK-BP’s problems may just be infighting among shareholders – shareholders who frequently can wield powers of the state to pressure each other. My view: we can see that in an effort to discourage Blavatnik, Vekselberg, and Fridman from selling stakes to state-owned firms, that BP is pushing hard for an enormous cooperation agreement and asset sharing partnership with Gazprom – probably along the lines of what happened to Eni. It seems a frequent negotiating tactic for Gazprom to corner the multinationals into these kind of deals, appearing as the savior and guardian angel to the very problems they themselves are creating. However, when corporations are under the gun to align themselves with the monopoly, it is consumers and competition who become the real victims. Gregory White and Guy Chazan report: