KIEV, Jan. 17 - TNK-BP plans to obtain special permits to develop Ukrainian shale gas fields and start test drilling in the first quarter of 2011, TNK-BP CEO in Ukraine Felix Lunev has said in an interview with the Ekonomicheskie Izvestia newspaper.

"We've decided that it would be safer for us to receive licenses in tenders to avoid possible accusations of being engaged in politics," Lunev said.