Total’s CEO Christophe de Margerie killed as jet and snow plough collide

Christophe de Margerie, the charismatic CEO of Total who dedicated his career to the multinational oil company, was killed at a Moscow airport when his private jet collided with a snowplough whose driver was drunk, Russian investigators said. Three French crew members also died when the French-made Dassault Falcon 50 burst into flames after it hit the snowplough during take-off from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport at 11.57pm on Monday local time. Tatyana Morozova, an official with the Investigative Committee, Russia’s main investigative agency, said investigators are questioning the snowplough driver, who was not hurt, as well as air traffic controllers and witnesses.

At the current time, it has been established that the driver of the snowplough was in a state of alcoholic intoxication.

Tatyana Morozova, an official with the Investigative Committee

Mr de Margerie, 63, was a regular fixture at international economic gatherings and one of the French business community’s most outspoken and recognisable figures. His trademark silver handlebar earned him the nickname Big Moustache. A critic of sanctions against Russia, he argued that isolating Russia was bad for the global economy. He travelled regularly to Russia and recently dined in Paris with a Putin ally who is facing EU sanctions over Russia’s involvement in the crisis in Ukraine. Jean-Jacques Guilbaud, Total’s secretary general, said the group would continue on its current path and that the board would meet in coming days to discuss who will succeed Mr de Margerie

[Mr de Margerie was one of the] origins of the many major joint projects that have laid the basis for the fruitful co-operation between Russia and France in the energy sphere for many years.

A telegram sent from Vladimir Putin to his French counterpart Francois Hollande

Business Christophe de Margerie