Vladimir Kirillov, former first deputy governor of the Leningrad Region, will replace Sergei Sai as head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources, which is also responsible for fisheries, hunting, and forestry. Sai had earlier tendered his resignation citing internal service disputes, according to the media.
The appointment was made by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov on Monday.
Talk of Sai's possible resignation began in 2006 following a row with Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev and his own watchdog deputy, Oleg Mitvol, the outspoken official who led a recent clampdown on a series of foreign oil producers and accused Sai of negligence in the supervision of oil companies.
Sai later criticized the country's administrative reforms, saying they permitted him no influence over his deputies.
The Russian daily Kommersant reported earlier that Sai, 55, was now looking for a post in the new Cabinet, to be formed after presidential polls on March 2. President Vladimir Putin has said he will take up Dmitry Medvedev's offer to become prime minister if the first deputy prime minister wins the elections.
Sai's successor, Kirillov, 52, has been an aide to the speaker of the upper parliamentary chamber, the Federation Council, since August 2007, and has a previous background in the border guard service. He began his administrative career in 1991 as head of a district near St. Petersburg.
