There is increasing chatter about the Reuters report that Yuri Petrov, a close ally of Dmitri Medvedev, has been nominated to the board of Rosneft, marking the latest blow in the so-called clan wars. Petrov formerly headed up Russia’s Federal State Property Fund (RFFI), was a law professor to Medvedev at Leningrad State University, and is known as one of his close supporters in the legal community along with Pavel Krasheninnikov, Nikolai Egorov, and Vladimir Krotov. Vedomosti reports that his nomination to the Rosneft board was a move specifically designed to give Medvedev greater clout vis-à-vis Igor Sechin, who is actively working to maintain his people in key positions around the new president. The guys over at Stratfor believe this appointment sets a dangerous precedent, and raises tensions between the competing state owned firms: “Crossing each clan’s loyal members into the other’s champion company could make things very messy for Rosneft and Gazprom technically, especially if one company’s agenda sabotages that of the other company.” I don’t necessarily agree that Medvedev having a mole within Rosneft is bad thing.