Rosneft eyes Nord Stream chief for its board-paper 10:29am IST * Warnig set to be appointed independent director * Seen as close to Putin * Follows Medvedev's shake up of corporate boards MOSCOW, April 28 (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil firm Rosneft may appoint to its board Matthias Warnig, the managing director of Nord Stream, Kommersant reported. Warnig, who is thought to be close to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, would become an independent director, sources at the government and the Energy Ministry told the business daily. The appointment, which would need to be approved at an extraordinary general meeting, follows a board shake-up at state-controlled companies after President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the government to remove ministers from such posts. Medvedev's order was seen by analysts as a move to emerge from Putin's shadow and strengthen his position ahead of the 2012 presidential election at which one of the two men is expected to take the top seat in the Kremlin. [ID:nLDE73107S] At Rosneft, the order meant the departure of Putin's deputy, Igor Sechin, Russia's energy tsar, as chairman. He is expected to be replaced by Sergei Shishin, a senior vice president of Russia's No. 2 bank, VTB . [ID:nLDE73107S] Warnig served in East Germany's Stasi roughly at the same time as Putin was working in the country for the KGB and is thought to be a close to the Russian premier. His work on Nord Stream gas pipeline project has earned him experience in international negotiations on energy issues. Rosneft, Warnig and Putin's spokesman declined to comment on the possibility of the appointment, Kommersant said. (Writing by Toni Vorobyova; Editing by Matt Driskill)
Rosneft eyes Nord Stream chief for its board-paper 10:29am IST * Warnig set to be appointed independent director * Seen as close to Putin * Follows Medvedev's shake up of corporate boards MOSCOW, April 28 (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil firm Rosneft may appoint to its board Matthias Warnig, the managing director of Nord Stream, Kommersant reported. Warnig, who is thought to be close to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, would become an independent director, sources at the government and the Energy Ministry told the business daily. The appointment, which would need to be approved at an extraordinary general meeting, follows a board shake-up at state-controlled companies after President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the government to remove ministers from such posts. Medvedev's order was seen by analysts as a move to emerge from Putin's shadow and strengthen his position ahead of the 2012 presidential election at which one of the two men is expected to take the top seat in the Kremlin. [ID:nLDE73107S] At Rosneft, the order meant the departure of Putin's deputy, Igor Sechin, Russia's energy tsar, as chairman. He is expected to be replaced by Sergei Shishin, a senior vice president of Russia's No. 2 bank, VTB . [ID:nLDE73107S] Warnig served in East Germany's Stasi roughly at the same time as Putin was working in the country for the KGB and is thought to be a close to the Russian premier. His work on Nord Stream gas pipeline project has earned him experience in international negotiations on energy issues. Rosneft, Warnig and Putin's spokesman declined to comment on the possibility of the appointment, Kommersant said. (Writing by Toni Vorobyova; Editing by Matt Driskill)
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