Saduokhas Meraliyev to step down from helm of Romania's Rompetrol

Saduokhas Meraliyev, CEO of the oil and gas company Rompetrol, will withdraw from this position starting June 1, 2012, as a result of the rotation strategy planned with the sole shareholder of the group, KazMunaiGas, according to Mediafax newswire. However, he will remain a member of the company’s Board of Directors. Saduokhas Meraliyev is CEO of the Rompetrol Group since July 2009. Before becoming the CEO of the company, he was the Deputy General Director of the same group, and before that, he held management positions within the KazMunaiGas company. Saduokhas Meraliyev has over 25 years of experience in the oil field, and he graduated from the University of Moscow, specializing in oil and gas industries and chemical technological processes. The Rompetrol Group runs the Vega refinery in Ploiesti, close to Bucharest, the Petromidia refinery in Constanta, as well as Rompetrol Petrochemicals. The group’s retail network, Rompetrol Downstream, includes over 780 gas stations in Romania. The group was taken over by KazMunaiGaz in 2007 from Romanian businessman Dinu Patriciu. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com