Gazprom confirms PM Zubkov running for board

MOSCOW, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) confirmed on Monday that Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov was the top ranked official running for its board after sources said he was set to become chairman of the world's largest gas firm.

Gazprom's current chairman, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, is poised to become Russia's next president after the March 2 election, meaning the top job at Gazprom, one of the world's 10 most valued stocks, will become vacant.

Zubkov -- a former head of Russia's financial intelligence agency -- might chair Gazprom after June's shareholder meeting, sources said last week.

Gazprom is viewed as the backbone of the Russian economy as it accounts for a large portion of budget revenues, controls one fifth of global gas reserves and is a key tool of Russia's foreign policy in its decisions about gas exports and pipelines.

On Monday, Gazprom said the state, which controls the firm, had nominated Zubkov as well as Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko, chief executive Alexei Miller and Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina to the 11-seat board.

Other state nominees include Khristenko's deputy Andrei Dementiyev, former Property Minister Farit Gazizullin, Russia's energy envoy Igor Yusufov and the deputy head of the property agency, Yuri Medvedev, who is not related to Dmitry Medvedev.

Gazprom as a holder of treasury stock has itself nominated the head of Gazprombank Andrei Akimov, deputy CEOs Alexander Ananekov and Mikhail Sereda, and the head of economic department Yelena Karpel.

Germany's Ruhrgas EONG.DE, which has a 6 percent stake in Gazprom, proposed to re-elect its head Burckhard Bergmann to the board.

Other candidates include the head of the St Petersburg Stock Exchange Viktor Nikolayev, MICEX exchange head Alexander Potyomkin, investor Boris Fyodorov, Bob Foresman from Renaissance Capital, the head of the Russian entrepreneurs lobby Alexander Shokhin and Yevgeny Yasin from the High School of Economy.