Miller Re-Elected as Gazprom CEO till 2021

Gazprom's board of directors unanimously decided to re-elect Alexei Miller as the chairman of the Russian gas giant's management committee for his fourth 5-year term starting from May 31, it said February 16.

That will take his chairmanship up to 2021. The former economist from St Petersburg is only the company's second CEO. He took over from the gas engineer Rem Vyakhirev, who ran the company from 1989, soon after its transformation from the ministry of gas into a joint stock company. He retired in 2001, the year after Vladimir Putin, also from St Petersburg, became president for the first time.

Putin himself sometimes directs company policies where international business in Europe and Asia is concerned, and the state still owns a controlling stake in its major foreign currency earner.

William Powell