* Gazprom unit gets CEO, two board seats
* Acts a day after completing share buyout worth $1.1 bln
* Sibir seen boosting future Gazprom Neft results
* Gazprom Neft Q1 results beat forecasts, shares outperform
(Adds VP's comment, buyout price, stock reaction)
By Vladimir Soldatkin and Simon Shuster
MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom Neft moved on Thursday to take operational control of mid-sized oil firm Sibir Energy, installing its legal expert as Sibir's new head in the latest government push to dominate the energy sector.
With firms across the economy weakened by the financial crisis, the state has acted to consolidate its influence over strategic sectors, raising the prospect of an effective nationalisation of much of Russia's industrial landscape.
The change in Sibir Energy's management followed news on Wednesday that Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of gas export monopoly Gazprom, had raised its stake in the company to 33.5 percent from 28.5 percent.
It spent a total of 652.5 million pounds ($1.07 billion) amassing this stake, according to company filings.
It has now become the largest stakeholder by almost fully buying out Sibir's minority shareholders, with two seats on the board of directors and its top legal councillor, Igor Tsibelman, stepping in to replace Stuard Detmer as chief executive.
Gazprom is widely believed to be aiming for control of Sibir, which has Royal Dutch Shell as a partner in the development of the Salym field in Siberia.
Sibir ran into trouble last year after its main shareholder, Shalva Chigirinsky, was forced to put up his stake as collateral with state bank Sberbank to meet obligations on Western loans.
Gazprom Neft's Chief Financial Officer, Vadim Yakovlev, said during a conference call late on Thursday that his firm had continued raising its Sibir stake to more than 34 percent.
"We clearly like this company and will continue to realise the potential that we see there," he said.
The market appeared to recognise this potential, helping Gazprom Neft's shares broadly outperform the market over the past two days. On Thursday its stock was up 2.1 percent at 1515 GMT while the Micex Oil & Gas index was down 2.3 percent. Analysts also agreed that controlling Sibir would boost Gazprom Neft's oil output and help its financial results recover from a rut brought on by lower oil prices and slackening demand.
STRONG GAZPROM NEFT RESULTS
On Thursday, Gazprom Neft reported net profits for the first quarter of $335 million, down 76 percent from a year earlier but beating consensus forecasts of $300 million.
"Gazprom Neft is seeking to strengthen its position in Sibir Energy not only for financial reasons. It also wants it to help raise its oil output," said Denis Borisov, an analyst at Solid Brokerage.
Though Gazprom Neft's sales were also down sharply, falling 48 percent to $4.2 billion, its performance showed a dramatic improvement from the previous quarter.
The bottom line recovered from a net loss of $543 million in the last three months of 2008, and EBITDA more than tripled quarter-on-quarter to $942 million.
Chigirinsky and his partner Igor Kesayev jointly control around 47 percent of Sibir, a stake now collateralised with Sberbank, while the central government owns 18 percent.
The Kremlin threw lifelines to many of Russia's once mighty oligarchs to help them repay foreign loans, but took assets and collateral to guarantee repayment.
Many analysts believe the Kremlin will tighten its grip over the economy by becoming the ultimate owner of many assets if oligarchs fail to pay back their debts.
Market sources have said Gazprom wants to buy out the stakes of both Kesayev and Chigirinsky.
The fate of the latter is complicated by the fact that another Russian businessman, Ruslan Baisarov, claims ownership of it, while Chigirinsky has won a British court order prohibiting Gazprom and Gazprom Neft from buying those shares until their ownership becomes clear.
Tsibelman, 41, headed Gazprom Neft's international legal affairs department. Prior to joining the firm he worked as an attorney for White & Case LLP and Arent Fox PLLC in New York. (Editing by John Stonestreet and Rupert Winchester) (simon.shuster@reuters.com; +7 495 775 1242) ($1=.6098 Pound)