Article
Russia's Worst Competitive Advantage
This summer, a rivulet of $60 per-barrel black liquid was discovered next to the Ryazan oil refinery, which belongs to TNK-BP [partially owned by BP]...the oil flows into a brook, the Listvyanka, from which it flows into the Oka River. The Oka provides the drinking water for the cities and villages downstream from Ryazan...refinery representatives stated that the oil trickling out from under the factory's fence had nothing to do with them. Instead, they insisted, its neighbor SFAT-Ryazan, which repairs railway cars, was to blame...the director of SFAT-Ryazan, angrily denied this: "This oil has nothing to do with us. It's coming from outside our yard. Our property begins 400 meters away from the site." Journalists and environmentalists who came to Ryazan tried to conduct their own investigation but were detained by guards who were proudly sporting TNK-BP's logo.