Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil PJSC said Chief Executive Officer Vagit Alekperov will resign in the latest sign of growing pressure on the nation’s energy industry since the invasion of Ukraine.
The 71-year-old Alekperov joins a long list of Russian CEOs who have stepped down after being targeted with Western sanctions. The bosses of the country’s biggest petrochemical producer Sibur Holding, internet company Yandex NV and e-commerce firm Ozon Group have all resigned in recent months.
Alekperov, who was sanctioned by the United Kingdom and Australia earlier this month, informed the company about his decision to resign as a member of the board of directors and as president, Lukoil said in a statement on Thursday. As of 31st March, Alekperov owned 3.12% voting shares and was the beneficiary of 5.43% shares without voting rights, according to the statement.
Alekperov was among the founders of what later became Lukoil in 1993. The company accounts for about 15% of Russia’s oil output, second only to state-controlled Rosneft PJSC. Its daily output averaged 1.61 million barrels from 1 to 19 April according to data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit that were seen by Bloomberg.
In Russia, Lukoil’s main fields are located in West Siberia, as well as developments on the North of the Caspian Sea. It also has upstream businesses in some former Soviet countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, where it completed earlier this year the acquisition of an additional stake in the Shah Deniz offshore gas project operated by BP Plc.
One of Lukoil’s biggest projects abroad includes the West Qurna-2 field in southern Iraq, where it operates. The company also has interests in several projects on the African continent and participates in several blocks in Mexico’s waters.
•By Bloomberg|Bloomberg