The driver of a snowplough which collided with a corporate jet at a Moscow airport, killing the boss of French oil giant Total, was drunk, Russian investigators said today.
Total confirmed "with deep regret and sadness" that chairman and chief executive Christophe de Margerie died in the crash at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
Three crew members, all of them French citizens, also died when the French-made Dassault Falcon 50 collided with the snowplough during take-off.
Russia's main investigative agency said today that the snowplough driver was under the influence of alcohol.
Mr de Margerie, 63, known as "Mr Moustache" for his bushy facial hair, rose through the ranks at Total to become chief executive in 2007, and added the post of chairman in 2010.
He joined Total after graduating from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce in 1974, according to the company website, and held several positions in the Finance Department and Exploration & Production division before becoming president of Total Middle East in 1995. He became a member of Total's policy-making executive committee in 1999.
Paris-based Total is the fifth-largest publicly-traded integrated international oil and gas company in the world, with exploration and production operations in more than 50 countries.
The firm is a major player in the North Sea oil and gas industry, employing more than 3000 staff in the UK, and has formal links with Aberdeen and Heriot-Watt universities.
Mr de Margerie was a vocal critic of sanctions against Russia, arguing that isolating Russia was bad for the global economy. He travelled regularly to Russia and recently dined in Paris with an ally of President Vladimir Putin, who is under EU sanctions.
Mr Putin has extended his condolences, his spokesman said.
"Vladimir Putin had known de Margerie for a long time and had maintained close working contact with him," Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.
"The president highly valued the business qualities of de Margerie, as well as his staunch commitment both to the cause of promoting Russian-French relations and their mutually beneficial diverse co-operation in general."
French President Francois Hollande expressed his "stupor and sadness" at the news.
In a statement, he praised Mr de Margerie for defending French industry on the global stage, and for his "independent character and original personality".
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