TNK-BP chief to be chosen by year-end -Ifax

MOSCOW, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The new chief executive officer of TNK-BP TNBPI.RTS, Russia's third-largest oil producer, will be decided by the end of the year, major shareholder and billionaire Viktor Vekselberg told Interfax on Monday. Vekselberg, one of four Russia-connected tycoons who split TNK-BP's ownership 50-50 with BP Plc (BP.L), added there are currently no new candidates for the post, the news agency quoted him as saying in the Swiss capital Berne.

Billionaire Mikhail Fridman agreed in May to serve as interim CEO of TNK-BP after BP-backed Robert Dudley left Russia as part of a resolution to a shareholders' battle at the group, which produces about a quarter of BP's global output. (Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by David Holmes)