Directorate Change

31 July 2013

Ruspetro plc ("Ruspetro" or the "Company")

Ruspetro Appoints New Members to the Board of Directors

London, 31 July 2013: Ruspetro plc (LSE: RPO) today announces a number of important Board changes effective from 1 August 2013:

·; Mr Frank Monstrey and Mr John Conlin appointed as Independent Non-Executive Directors

·; Mr Kirill Androsov will replace Mr James Gerson as the Non-Executive Director representing Limolines Transport Limited

·; The Board remains independent by a majority of five to three

Mr Frank Monstrey founded and is the Chairman of Zhaikmunai LP. Zhaikmunai is an oil and gas business in north-west Kazakhstan with production of nearly 50,000 boepd. Mr Monstrey is an entrepreneur who has presided over this company as its production has grown from virtually zero to present day levels. Mr Monstrey has overseen the management team of Zhaikmunai, as it has gone through a significant development phase, ensuring that capital allocation decisions are well informed and thought through carefully and that development plans are well executed. As a regular visitor to Kazakhstan and Moscow for many years, Mr Monstrey understands the region and the challenges of doing business in the CIS.

Mr John Conlin was Chairman of Aurelian Oil & Gas plc which recently merged with San Leon plc. He is a petroleum engineer and has over 36 years' experience in the oil and gas industry; spending 28 years at Shell in various senior management and operational positions. During that time he also gained significant experience outside Shell through secondments to Maersk, Woodside, Sakhalin Energy and Exxon Mobil. Mr Conlin has previously served as a Non-Executive Director of Hardman Resources plc and Delphian Technologies Limited, and Chairman of Fuelture Limited and Nautical Petroleum plc.

Mr Kirill Androsov is one of the founders of Altera Investment Fund (Luxembourg) which via Limolines Transport Limited is a shareholder in Ruspetro plc. Before co-founding Altera Investment, Mr Androsov was Deputy Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's office of the Russian Federation. Prior to this, he was Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade in Russia. He joined this Ministry as the Director of the Tariff Regulation and Infrastructure Reform Department. Mr Androsov is currently Chairman of Aeroflot and Russian Railways and is on the Boards of Russian Machines, LSR, Channel 1 and Altera Investment Fund. During his six years in government, he served on the Boards of RAO UES, Rosneft, Zarubezhneft, Bank VTB and Svyazinvest.

Mr Androsov will be appointed as a director with effect from the 1st August 2013, with Mr Gerson resigning as a director of the Company with effect from 31st July 2013.

The Company confirms that there is no further information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph 9.6.13 of the UK listing Rules in respect of each of Mr Monstrey, Mr Conlin and Mr Androsov.

Alexander Chistyakov, Chairman Elect, commented:

"The Board of Ruspetro is augmented today with the appointment of two Independent Non-Executive Directors with specific knowledge and experience of early stage oil and gas development. They are familiar with the technological challenges of tight oil reserves and the economics of production in our environment. I am confident they will bring significant added value to the Company and I look forward to working with them.

It is also a pleasure to welcome Mr Kirill Androsov to the Board. He is in the top level of Russia's business and political echelons and is the Chairman of Aeroflot and Russian Railways. He brings a great depth of understanding, insight and experience to the Board. I would like to thank James Gerson for his valuable assistance to the Company.

The Board, which continues with a majority of independent directors, is committed to building value for shareholders and this is underlined by the positive additions to the Board announced today."

ENDS

Enquiries

Investors / analyst enquiries

Dominic Manley, Ruspetro

+44 207 318 1265 / +44 7540 460 872

Twitter: @ruspetroplc

Media

Ben Brewerton, Natalia Erikssen - FTI Consulting

+44 207 831 3113

About Ruspetro

Ruspetro plc is an independent oil & gas development and production company, listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange (LSE: RPO). The Company's operations are located on three contiguous licence blocks in the middle of the Krasnoleninsk Arch in Western Siberia. Ruspetro assets include proved and probable (2P) reserves of over 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent.