Finnish businessman Gennady Timchenko has been elected the new chairman of the board at the KHL hockey league.
The board has without a chair since former NHL star Vyacheslav Fetisov stepped down in January citing disagreements with the league's president, Alexander Medvedev.
Timchenko, a co-owner of Netherlands-based oil transportation and logistics firm Gunvor, is also chairman of the board at St. Petersburg hockey team SKA, which plays in the KHL.
"I'm sincerely glad that I can be of use to Russian hockey in my new post," Timchenko told the KHL website.
"Over the last five years of activity the KHL has achieved huge success and has united in its ranks not only Russians teams but foreign teams, who participation in the league is expanding."
The Armenian-born energy trader, 59, ranks 99th on the Forbes list of billionaires and has an estimated fortune of $9.1 billion.
After gaining an education in St. Petersburg, Timchenko settled in Finland in 1990, receiving citizenship.
