Russia oil giant Rosneft picks Mandarin speaker to lead global trading as Ukraine war prompts pivot to Asia
- Andrey Bogatenkov’s appointment as vice-president for commerce and logistics comes as the EU plans to ban most imports of Russian crude and oil products
- The former head of Rosneft Singapore previously talked about the importance of knowing the language to establish dialogue with Chinese partners
Rosneft appointed a Mandarin speaker to head global trading operations, six sources told Reuters on Thursday as Russia’s top oil producer seeks to deepen ties with Asia after Western sanctions forced it to pivot away from Europe.
Andrey Bogatenkov takes over as vice-president for commerce and logistics from Uzbekistan-born Otabek Karimov, who left Rosneft along with other foreign executives in the wake of the sanctions imposed after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in what it called a “special operation”.
Rosneft, the world’s second biggest oil producer by volume after Saudi Aramco, did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Bogatenkov headed Rosneft Singapore from 2019 before leaving the island nation in early May.
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Washington bans Russian oil and gas imports over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine
His appointment comes as the EU plans to ban most imports of Russian crude and oil products by year-end.
