Moscow -- French Total's new CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, plans to visit Russia before the end of November, Gennady Timchenko, one of the main shareholders in Novatek, told Interfax.
Novatek CEO and chief shareholder Leonid Mikhelson is in Paris today to meet with Pouyanne, Timchenko said.
Timchenko, who has no travel plans in connection with the U.S. sanctions against him, will have to wait for Pouyanne to visit Russia to make his acquaintance.
Due to the untimely death of former Total CEO Christophe de Margerie on October 21, “it is necessary to get acquainted with Total’s new leadership, to understand what their policy will be, how they will cooperate with us. According to the information available to me, they plan to continue those projects in which they are currently participating in Russia. It does not seem that their strategy is changing,” he said.
Pouyanne, who was appointed to head Total on October 22, previously led the company’s refining division.
De Margerie, who became CEO in 2007, died when his Falcon jet collided on takeoff with a snow removal vehicle at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport.
