OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) Chief Executive Igor Sechin has said he would "welcome" BP PLC (BP) boss Bob Dudley onto the board of the Russian oil giant, Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

BP will receive two seats on Rosneft's board after increasing its stake in Rosneft to 19.8% share in Rosneft as part of a deal to sell its stake in TNK-BP, Russia's No. 3 crude producer. Rosneft is buying out BP and its partners in TNK-BP in deals worth $55 billion.

"Robert Dudley is a very good candidate for the Rosneft board of directors. We would welcome a manager of this level joining the company's board of directors," Interfax cited Mr. Sechin as saying during a trip to
Venezuela .

Mr. Dudley fled
Russia in 2008 while working as chief executive of TNK-BP amid disputes with BP's partners, the AAR consortium of Soviet-born billionaries.