The French finance ministry's chief of staff, Stephane Richard, will leave the government to head up the country's telecommunications giant France Telecom SA (FTE), a senior government official told Dow Jones Newswires late Wednesday.

Richard would succeed France Telecom's 67-year-old CEO, Didier Lombard, whose mandate will come to an end in 2011. Richard's appointment already has been approved by the country's Ethics Council, which vets moves of government officials into top jobs in private industry, the senior source said.

France Telecom declined to comment.

Meanwhile, French Business daily Les Echos reported on its Web site that Richard's appointment was forced through by the government, which holds a 26.7% stake in the former state telecommunications monopoly.

Richard, a wealthy former businessman, would be the second high-ranking government official to be shifted to head a major French institution in the past few months.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's senior adviser, Francois Perol, was appointed head of the giant French mutual bank to be formed by the merger of mutuals Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire.

Richard could leave the Finance Ministry as early as mid-June, the senior government source said, adding that he could start at France Telecom as early as September in some initial role.

Les Echos said Richard's ascent at France Telecom will be phased. At the beginning of next year he will take charge of the international operations, the equivalent of second in command of the entire company, it reported.

France Telecom is a major global telecoms presence, posting EUR53 billion of revenue for 2008.

The appointment of Richard to run France Telecom's would further consolidate the growing influence over business of Sarkozy's government. The state holds a number of large sharehodings in some of the country's biggest companies, especially in infrastructural sectors.

-By Geraldine Amiel and A.H. Mooradian, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1740; geraldine.amiel@dowjones.com and art.mooradian@dowjones.com.

Ruth Bender in Paris contributed to this article.