MOSCOW, July 26, 2008 (AFP) - The Moscow prosecutor's office on Saturday denied a report that the head of troubled British-Russian oil venture TNK-BP had been summoned for questioning, Russian news agencies reported.

Earlier Saturday the Interfax news agency quoted a representative of the oil company as saying its head, Robert Dudley, had received a summons to appear before Moscow prosecutors on Monday to explain alleged labour law violations.

'There has been no decision to open a case against him for administrative violations. Thus there is no reason for Robert Dudley to be present,' the Interfax and ITAR-TASS news agencies quoted a statement from the Moscow prosecutor's office as saying.

Repeated calls to both the prosecutor's office and TNK-BP on Saturday went unanswered.

Dudley left Russia this week in the midst of a bitter feud between its Russian and British shareholders. TNK-BP said he plans to run the company from outside the country.

His departure was the latest twist in a bitter dispute between TNK-BP's shareholders, British oil major BP and a consortium of Russian industrialists known as AAR, who have sought to oust Dudley.

The dispute over TNK-BP -- Russia's third-largest oil company -- is being closely watched for signs of whether foreign investors will be allowed to continue working in Russia's lucrative energy sector.