LUKOIL head Alekperov raises his stake in the firm

MOSCOW, May 12 (Reuters) - The president of Russia's second largest oil producer LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), Vagit Alekperov, has increased his shareholding in the firm to 173.51 million shares, or 20.4 percent of its charter capital, LUKOIL said on Monday.

The firm, in which U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) holds a 20 percent stake, said in a statement Alekperov has paid 24.57 billion roubles ($1.03 billion) to buy 11.13 million of LUKOIL's shares in addition to the 162.381 million shares he owned before.

Alekperov has repeatedly said he was going to continue investing his personal capital in the company's shares.

LUKOIL said last year that Alekperov, his wife Larisa and son Yusuf, owned 19.1 percent of LUKOIL's shares at the time. LUKOIL's vice-president Leonid Fedun owned 8.3 percent of the firm's shares as of April 2007.

Alekperov and Fedun have a combined stake of about 30 percent, which is enough to veto board decisions. (Reporting by Tanya Mosolova, editing by Will Waterman)