OREANDA-NEWS. August 18, 2010.  The ex-president of Bashkiria, Murtaza Rakhimov, may enter the BoD of Bashneft, controlled by AFK Sistema, Vedomosti newspaper reported. It is even possible that Rakhimov could be appointed deputy board chairman. The former Bashkir president has already given his consent for election and has reconciled the move with the Russian government: one official of the presidential administration confirmed information on the forthcoming appointment and said that Sistema head, Vladimir Evtushenkov, had agreed on the move with the authorities.

In the past, Rakhimov worked at Ufa Oil Refinery, including at the post of the plant director. After he became the Bashkir president, he united all of the Bashkir fuel and energy enterprises, and allegedly handed control over them to his son, Ural. Federal authorities attempted numerous times to seize control over the Bashkir TEK from the Rakhimov family. In 2005, AFK Sistema acquired blocking share packages in the companies of the Bashkir TEK. Last year, the corporation brought its interest in the Bashkir TEK to a controlling stake and made Bashneft a head company of the entire complex.