TNK-BP CEO Robert Dudley did not break any labor laws according to Russian prosecutors.

Dudley had earlier been accused of discriminating against Russian employees and violating administrative laws.

He left Moscow on Thursday just before his visa expired, complaining of a campaign of harassment. The billionaire Russian shareholders in the joint venture have insisted on a new, independent CEO who would act in the interest of both BP and TNK.

But, according to the Times, the Russian partners in the company DENY they wanted to push the British oil giant out.

Dudley will temporarily be running TNK-BP from abroad, he says.

The British Foreign Office has warned that Dudley's departure is “bad news for both the Russian economy and the global energy industry as a whole.”