MOSCOW, January 15 (RIA Novosti) - Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will be co-opted into the TNK-BP board as an independent director, BP said on Thursday.

"The shareholders in TNK-BP have agreed to appoint three independent directors, including former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder, to the restructured main board of TNK-BP. His fellow independents will be James Leng, the chairman designate of Rio Tinto, and Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs," the company said in a statement.

The statement said BP and Alfa-Access Renova (AAR) had agreed to appoint the three directors to "avoid the risk of deadlock between the 50:50 owners of the joint venture," which are represented on the 11-strong board by four directors from each side.

BP's four nominated directors on the main board of TNK-BP are: Andy Inglis, chief executive of BP's upstream business, David Peattie, BP's head of Russian business, Iain Macdonald, BP's deputy chief financial officer and Lord Robertson of Port Ellen.

The AAR-nominated directors are Alfa Group chairman, Mikhail M Fridman, Renova Group chairman, Viktor F Vekselberg, Access Industries chairman, Len Blavatnik and Chairman of Pamplona Capital Management, Alex Knaster.

Until a new CEO of TNK-BP is announced, Tim Summers will continue in the role.

Welcoming the new structure, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said: "I am especially pleased that Gerhard Schroeder has agreed to join the restructured board. The counsel of such a distinguished statesman, who brings both enormous geo-political experience and a history of strong relationships with Russia, gives me particular confidence that the next chapter in the progress of TNK-BP will be good for all shareholders and for Russia."

Schroeder said: "I am looking forward to working together with the other members of the main board of TNK-BP. I feel certain that, with the support and trust of both shareholder groups, I will be able to make a contribution to the company's success that will serve as an important example of Russia's cooperation with international investors, thereby providing a significant contribution to Russia's integration in the global economy."

TNK-BP's former CEO, Robert Dudley, who left Russia in July over what BP alleged, was a campaign of harassment by Russian shareholders, stepped down on December 1, 2008.

TNK-BP is split 50-50 between BP and the AAR consortium of Russian billionaire shareholders, who clashed in 2008 over strategy, management and control of the third-largest oil producer in Russia.

Under a deal agreed by the parties on January 9, Dudley was to be replaced by an executive from outside BP with extensive Russian experience.