The Former Head of Norilsk Nickel Is On TNK-BP Promotion

"Denis Morozov, who left Norilsk in a management shake-up in July, is understood to be one of the names to make a final short list drawn up by Whitehead Mann, the recruitment agency that is leading the search to fill the top job at TNK-BP," The Sunday Times said.

According to The Sunday Times, BP is expected to make a decision on the Russian joint venture's top job within the next two weeks.

Other names on the list are thought to be Peter O'Brien, a former Morgan Stanley banker and vice-president of Rosneft, and Pyotr Galitsyn, head of the Russian unit of BASF, the chemicals group, the paper said.

However, Morozov, who has worked for around 10 years at Norilsk Nickel, is seen as the frontrunner as he is "a highly respected executive accustomed to running large, oligarch-controlled industrial groups," the paper reported.

Author: Ksenia Kochneva