FSUOGM: Fedun leaves Lukoil following Alekperov's lead

The long-serving vice president of Russia's biggest private oil producer Lukoil has stepped down from the position, the company reported on June 27, citing his reaching retirement age and family circumstances.
Leonid Fedun, a major Lukoil shareholder estimated by Forbes to have an $8.2bn fortune, was a former Russian military officer that went into the oil business after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He helped privatise Lukoil in the 1990s.
Fedun’s departure comes just over two months after Lukoil’s long-serving president and founder Vagit Alekperov also left. The two men are close associates, and have often called for greater liberalisation of Russia’s oil industry over the years – a stance that at times has led them to lock horns with other figures that have pushed for greater state consolidation of the sector, including state-owned Rosneft’s powerful CEO Igor Sechin.
Lukoil’s leadership has sought to maintain good relations with the Russian government, preventing any attempts by state-owned firms to wrestle control over the company.  However, speculation has arisen now and then over the years that Lukoil might be taken over by Rosneft, but no such plans have taken shape.

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor.