Russia approves BP and TNK merger

Russia's anti-trust ministry has approved the merger of local oil firm TNK with BP. This removes the last obstacle for the two companies to create Russia's third largest oil producer.

In a statement, the ministry said its head Ilya Yuzhanov had approved all merger requests by the two firms. The deal had been previously approved by the European Union and Ukrainian anti-trust bodies, they said it represented no threat to the sector.