Medvedev Proposes Replacing State-Run Rosneft's Bogdanchikov With Deputy

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed replacing Sergei Bogdanchikov as chief executive officer of OAO Rosneft, nominating the state-run oil producer’s deputy CEO for the top post.

Medvedev met with Eduard Khudainatov outside Moscow today and asked the government to put the executive’s name forward for election to the position of CEO, Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said by phone.

Bogdanchikov, 53, has headed Rosneft since 1998, turning the company into Russia’s largest oil producer by buying Yukos Oil Co.’s biggest assets in government auctions to recover more than $30 billion in back taxes. Russian newspaper Vedomosti said Sept. 1 that Bogdanchikov may resign within days. His contract expired on June 29 and was automatically extended for a year.

Khudainatov, 49, was referred to as acting president on Rosneft’s website yesterday in a congratulatory address to employees on the forthcoming Day of Oil and Gas Industry Workers. The company press service clarified yesterday that Bogdanchikov hasn’t stepped down and Khudainatov is running the company while he’s away on a business trip.

Bogdanchikov, who is also a Rosneft board member and shareholder, said on Sept. 1 that he is “very attached” to the company and has no plans to leave it.

Nikolai Manvelov, a Rosneft spokesman, declined to comment on Khudainatov’s nomination or Bogdanchikov’s future today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Shiryaevskaya in Moscow at ashiryaevska@bloomberg.net

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