UPDATE: Gazprom Neft Appoints Tsibelman As Sibir Energy CEO

Russia's OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS) Thursday appointed Igor Tsibelman as new chief executive of Sibir Energy PLC (SBE.LN) in a sign the state-controlled oil major is tightening its grip on the London-listed company.

Tsibelman, head of international legal affairs at Gazprom Neft, will replace Sibir Energy's acting CEO Stuard Detmer with immediate effect, Sibir said in a statement.

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), has been buying minority shares in Sibir Energy since April. Wednesday, the company said it had become the company's biggest stakeholder, accumulating 33.6% of shares.

Sibir Energy, last summer the biggest company on London's AIM exchange, has been dogged by corporate governance issues since it agreed to buy distressed real estate assets from its core owner Chalva Tchigirinski in October last year.

Trading in Sibir's shares have been suspended since February, pending investigations into erroneous statements to shareholders about its dealings with Tchigirinski.

Tsibelman, the new Sibir CEO, has together with Gazprom Neft's Chief Financial Officer Vadim Yakovlev, also been appointed to Sibir's board. Apart from joining the board, Yakovlev will also assume a role as non-executive director at Sibir.

"The appointment of Yakovlev and Tsibelman is an important step in rebuilding the Sibir board and establishing a high standard of corporate governance for the company," said now former CEO Stuard Detmer, who will remain on Sibir's board as a non-executive director.

Analysts said they believe Gazprom Neft's ultimate goal is to get full control and eventually consolidate Sibir Energy, but say much depends on what will happen to the remaining shares.

Tchigirinski and his business partner Igor Kesaev each hold 23.5% stakes in Sibir, while the Moscow City Government holds 18%. Tchigirinski's shares are currently held as loan collateral by state lender OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), while Moscow City has said it won't sell its shares.

"Once the fate of the remaining shares is decided, we'll know whether Sibir will remain a publicly traded company or become a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft," said Artyom Konchin, an analyst at UniCredit in Moscow. Gazprom Neft has so far spent $900 million on minority shares, leaving Sibir's free float under 0.5%, Konchin estimates.

At 0800 GMT, Gazprom Neft's American Depository Receipts had gained 1.1% and were trading at $16.9 each in London.

Sibir Energy operates the Salym oil fields in Western Siberia on a 50-50 basis with Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), has a stake in the Moscow oil refinery in which Gazprom Neft is also a shareholder and ownership of retail gas stations in the Moscow area.

Company Web site: www.sibirenergy.com

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; jacob.pedersen@dowjones.com

(Alexander Kolyandr in London contributed to this article)

Sibir Energy (LSE:SBE)
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