Former IOC director GK Satish joins Russian oil major Rosneft board

New Delhi: Former Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) director G K Satish has been appointed to the board of Russian energy giant Rosneft in signs of growing links between India and Russia.

Govind Kottieth Satish, who retired as director for business development at IOC in 2021, is one of three new faces appointed to the 11-strong board of directors of Rosneft, according to a statement issued by the Russian firm.

Satish, who was appointed to the board of IOC on September 1, 2016, is one of the five independent directors on the Rosneft board.

Rosneft said its shareholders at the annual general meeting on June 30 elected a new board of directors consisting of 11 members. Igor I Sechin, a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, continues to be the CEO and chairman of the management board of Rosneft.

Other members appointed include "Govind Kottis Satish, Managing Director, Value Prolific Consulting Services Pvt Ltd (ValPro)," it said.

ValPro is the firm that Satish joined after demitting office from IOC upon attaining 60 years of age.

ValPro is a company that advises on mergers and acquisitions and investment banking. Former IOC chairman M A Pathan is on its board of advisor and its top management include former IOC executives.

This is the first time an Indian has been appointed to the board of Rosneft.

IOC alongside Bharat PetroResources Ltd (a unit of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd or BPCL) and Oil India Ltd in 2016 bought a 23.9 per cent stake in Rosneft's Vankor oilfield for USD 2.02 billion. The consortium also took a 29.9 per cent stake in a separate Taas-Yuryakh oilfield in East Siberia for USD 1.12 billion.

IOC is India's largest importer of Russian oil and the only company with a long-term delivery deal in place with Rosneft.

Rosneft board includes representative each from Qatar and the Philippines.

"Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada (chairman of the board of trustees of Dohal University of Science and Technology) has been elected Chairman of Rosneft Oil Company Board of Directors," Rosneft said.

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