Rosneft (RTS: ROSN) will independently select its partners for the development of fields on Russia’s Arctic shelf, regardless of any rulings in London court, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said. “We have the utmost respect for the London court, but whatever its ruling, Rosneft has the right to decide for itself who it will work with,” said Sechin, who is also chairman of the board of Rosneft.

The court cannot obligate Rosneft to take TNK-BP (RTS: TNBP) as its partner for the development of the blocks in the Kara Sea, he said. “Issues concerning natural resource use are within the competence of the Russian government. The London court does not have jurisdiction there,” he said.

Sechin questioned the London court’s decision to issue an injunction against the agreed share swap between Rosneft and BP in the suit brought by TNK-BP. “I don’t quite understand why precisely that element of the asset swap was chosen for the enforcement measure,” he said, noting that both Rosneft and BP are public stock companies whose shares circulate on international exchanges.

“Operations with shares are not tied to the territory and have nothing to do with project decisions, and those are two absolutely unconnected elements of the agreement,” Mr. Sechin said, adding that he hoped that the court would take that into consideration.

“I am very hopeful for an out-of-court settlement of these issues. Our stance is that no one must pressure the court and dictate what its ruling should be,” he said.

Rosneft has received no partnership proposals from TNK-BP. “So there’s nothing to discuss,” Sechin said.

Rosneft and BP have a 10-year history of cooperation, including shelf projects; BP participated in the implementation of the Sakhalin project without bringing in TNK-BP. Meanwhile, BP has experience developing Canadian offshore fields in the Arctic, he said.

Rosneft operations on the shelf “are an issue of Russia’s energy security and a contribution to European and global energy security,” he said.

“We wholly support this deal (the Rosneft-BP alliance),” he said. Foreign companies have a 25-percent-stake in the Russian oil market, much greater than Russia’s stake in oil markets abroad, he said. In that sense, the Rosneft-BP alliance is an historic one for the oil industry, he said.

BP and the Russian consortium AAR own TNK-BP 50-50. Following the announcement of the alliance, AAR said it violated the terms of the TNK-BP shareholders agreement.

AAR subsequently filed suit in London court to block the deal. In February the court issued an injunction against the share swap pending a ruling on the alliance in Stockholm arbitration. AAR and BP are currently tackling the issue of the shareholders agreement under fast-track arbitration procedures.

Management proposals on TNK-BP’s participation in the Rosneft-BP alliance have been submitted to the company’s board of directors on two occasions. Under the proposals, TNK-BP would buy shares in BP to be exchanged for shares in Rosneft. TNK-BP would also receive a stake in Arctic development projects.