Oil and gas giant Total named a new chairman and a new CEO on Wednesday following the death of its chief executive Christophe de Margerie in a plane crash in Moscow, reports RFI.
The decision to name Thierry Desmarest as chairman and Patrick Pouyanne as chief executive officer of one of the world’s biggest energy companies was taken at an emergency meeting held on Wednesday.
While Desmarest had been both chairman and CEO of Total from 1995 to 2007, Pouyanne currently heads the refining and chemicals division of the company.
Desmarest, who had once prepared De Margerie for the top job, now appears to have been asked to do the same for Pouyanne.
Meanwhile, French investigators joined Russian officials to probe the accident which Russian experts said was caused by criminal negligence on the part of senior airport officials.
Read more of this report from RFI.