MOSCOW, May 20 (Reuters) - Rosneft, thestate-owned Russian crude producer which earlier this yearbought TNK-BP, announced several senior management appointmentson Monday after former TNK-BP executives decided to leavepositions they had been offered.
The world's biggest listed crude producer, which paid $55billion in cash and stock for TNK-BP, said its former head, Eduard Khudainatov, was taking over the production departmentfrom Sergei Brezitsky, who had worked at TNK-BP until 2011 priorto being offered the job at Rosneft.
Among the other changes, Marcus Cooper, a veteran of Britishoil firm BP which ended up with almost 20 percent inRosneft after the TNK-BP deal, will head the Russian firm'strading unit, also taking over from a former TNK-BP employee.
Business daily Vedomosti said last week two former managersof TNK-BP had left Rosneft for "personal reasons", only abouttwo months after moving to new jobs, possibly due to differencesin the "corporate culture".
A Rosneft spokesman declined immediate comment on why theformer TNK-BP managers had left, while a source at the companysaid "its working schedule is tougher than at a private firm."
Rosneft is headed by Igor Sechin, a powerful andlong-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Beforetaking over Rosneft last year, Sechin, a former militarytranslator, oversaw country's energy sector in the government.