Feb 8 (Reuters) - Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk named Roman Deniskin as its chief executive on Thursday, following the resignation last year of its long-time CEO and co-founder.
The appointment comes less than a month after Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, who owns a 22 percent stake in Petropavlovsk, told Reuters that he wanted to bring back co-founder Pavel Maslovskiy as CEO.
Maslovskiy resigned in July at a time of a shareholder row over control of the gold mining company, which also resulted in the departure of another co-founder Peter Hambro.
"I am pleased to welcome Roman to Petropavlovsk. His appointment follows a comprehensive external search and has the full support of our major shareholders," Ian Ashby, Petropavlovsk Chairman, said in a statement.
Deniskin's appointment was the board's decision after a recruitment process, which was begun before Rakishev invested in the company, Rakishev said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
"In my capacity as a shareholder I am not in a position, legally, to interfere in the process", he added. Rakishev bought the stake in Petropavlovsk in late December.
Deniskin, who was most recently Deputy Chairman of Kazakh mining firm Eurasian Resources Group, is expected to replace interim CEO Sergey Ermolenko in April, Petropavlovsk said.
Petropavlovsk's shares were down 0.1 percent in London at 1057 GMT.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdynia; additional reporting by Olzhas Auyezov in Almaty; editing by Polina Devitt and Alexander Smith)