Correspondents say the appointment will be welcomed by markets and investors as a sign that one of the commanding heights of the economy will remain in the reformist camp.

BBC: Russia's top team gets down to work

Twenty years ago, as the state abandoned the commanding heights of the economy in the name of privatisation and deregulation, it looked as if these public-private hybrids were doomed.

ECONOMIST: The East India Company

He received the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power and is also the author of Commanding Heights: the Battle for the World Economy.

FORBES: Magazine Article