Khudainatov tapped by Medvedev to run Rosneft

MOSCOW, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Rosneft (ROSN.MM) executive Eduard Khudainatov has been picked by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to run the country's top oil producer, Interfax news agency reported on Saturday.

The appointment, which is expected to be approved by the Rosneft board, would end long-running speculation about the top job after long-time Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov's contract expired in June.

After Medvedev met with Khudainatov on Saturday, the president's spokeswoman Natalia Timakova told Interfax: "As a result of the meeting the president instructed the government to make Khudainatov a candidate for the post of president of Rosneft."

Sources in the government and industry told Reuters on Friday that Khudainatov had been picked to succeed Bogdanchikov, who has run the company since its bankruptcy in the late 1990s.

Khudainatov was appointed to his current position supervising the company's production operations in January 2009. Prior to that he was responsible for Rosneft's capital construction projects.

Sources have told Reuters that Bogdanchikov lost the confidence of board chairman Igor Sechin, the powerful deputy to Putin. (Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev; editing by Noah Barkin)