Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences over the tragic death of Total's CEO Christophe de Margerie, the TASS news agency cited the Kremlin's spokesman as saying.
"Vladimir Putin has long known de Margerie, had close working relationship with him," TASS cited Dmitry Peskov as saying.
De Margerie was killed when a business jet collided with a snow plough during takeoff at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport overnight, the company and airport officials said.
"The President highly appreciated de Margerie's business skills, his continued commitment to the development of not only bilateral Russian-French relations but also on multifaceted levels," Peskov said, according to TASS.