BP and AAR has appointed Maxim Barsky as TNK-BP's next CEO

The TNK-BP board of directors unanimously agreed to appoint Maxim Barsky, TNK-BP executive vice president for strategy and business development, as the TNK-BP Group's future CEO, effective 1 January 2011. Until that time, Mikhail Fridman has agreed to continue to act as interim CEO, in addition to his role as executive chairman of the Board of Directors of TNK-BP Limited.

To deepen his international and industry knowledge, Maxim Barsky will spend the first five months of 2010 working in various upstream businesses at BP and BP's head office in London. As of 1 June 2010, he will return to TNK-BP in a senior executive role, joining the management team that has recently been strengthened by the appointment of Bill Schrader, former president of BP Azerbaijan, as TNK-BP's chief operating officer.

"This is a significant milestone in the development of TNK-BP," said Mikhail Fridman. "It demonstrates that the shareholders are united on strategy, governance and support for the company's robust operational and financial performance. We are particularly grateful to the independent directors on our board, who played an instrumental role in helping the shareholders reach this important decision."

Commenting on the selection, BP's CEO Tony Hayward said: "I am pleased that the shareholders of TNK-BP have agreed this plan. We are all agreed that Maxim Barsky has the capabilities to lead the company into its next phase of development, and confident that the further experience he gains in the coming year will fully equip him for the task of CEO."

"This succession plan is proof that the revised shareholder agreement for TNK-BP that was put in place at the beginning of this year is working well. It was preceded by a rigorous selection process involving all the independent directors, and was decided unanimously by the whole board. This demonstrates that there could be no clearer sign of shareholder alignment and support for management," added Gerhard Schroeder, an independent director, also speaking on behalf of TNK-BP's other independent directors Jim Leng and Alexander Shokhin.

Tags: TNK-BP