OREANDA-NEWS. December 08, 2009. Andrei Galaev has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) with effect from 7 December. Mr Galaev’s previous position with the Company was Deputy CEO, reported the press-centre of Sakhalin Energy.

Sakhalin Energy’s new CEO was nominated by Gazprom and approved by all the Shareholders in full compliance with the Shareholders Agreement.

“Our main short-term goal is to finalise commissioning and reach the name-plate capacity of all the project assets”, said Mr Galaev on the occasion of his appointment. “Sakhalin Energy pioneered the offshore oil and gas development in Russia and introduced Russian LNG to the world. We have unfailingly succeeded in achieving our targets and I have no doubt this tradition will continue. The constructive cooperation of our shareholders and the effective team work of our highly professional staff will make it happen”.

Ian Craig, who has led the Company for five years will, as already announced by Shell, take up a new appointment with Shell early in 2010. Under his management Sakhalin Energy completed the main construction scope of the Sakhalin-2 Phase 2 Project, switched over to year-round hydrocarbon production and successfully brought on stream Russia’s first LNG plant.