Rosneft: between the banks and the Kremlin.(News)

Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft could be in line for a shake-up following last week's appointment of Kremlin chief of staff Igor Sechin as board chairman.

The company's "opaque export policy" has irritated some high-ranking officials at the Kremlin, according to observers, and Sechin's nomination is ascribed to worries about Rosneft president Sergei Bogdanchikov's lack of control over the firm's cash flows. It has also been linked with a possible purchase by the state-owned company of Yukos' 1mn b/d production subsidiary Yuganskneftegaz (FSUE, 30 July, p1). Insiders suggest that, once Sechin has acquired enough knowledge of the oil business, Bogdanchikov may …