BP PLC's incoming Chief Executive Robert Dudley and the man he will succeed, Tony Hayward, are heading to Moscow this week to meet with the company's investors in Russia.

BP spokesman Toby Odone said Tuesday that the visit marked a "handover" and the two men would meet with government officials as well as BP's partners.

Dudley is already familiar with BP's operations in Russia, which account for a quarter of the company's global oil output. The U.S.-born executive ran the company's joint venture — TNK-BP — from 2003 until 2008 when he was forced to flee the country after a dispute with BP's billionaire partners.

Odone says that Dudley will also visit other BP operations around the world, but the schedule has not yet been set.