Long-serving Sovcomflot CEO Sergey Frank is leaving the top job after 15 years.
The news was confirmed by the office of Russia's deputy prime minister Maxim Akimov in a statement.
Frank is expected to become chairman of the state shipping company, the statement added.
Igor Tonkovidov, the current vice president, chief operating officer and chief technical officer, will be appointed the new CEO.
The confirmation came after Reuters reported that Frank would be giving up operational control.
Sovcomflot is not commenting.
Frank, born on 13 August, 1960, in Novosibirsk, has overseen massive expansion and diversification at the company, spearheading moves into arctic LNG shipping, offshore and eco-friendly tanker operations through his belief in LNG as a fuel.
He also defended Sovcomflot's interest in a huge London high court fraud trial involving private shipowner Yury Nikitin.
Frank graduated from Admiral GI Nevelskoy Maritime State University in Vladivostok, specialising in maritime navigation, and has a law degree.
Government career
He worked at Russian shipowner Fesco between 1989 and 1995 before entering government in the ministry of transport, rising to become minister of transport between 1998 and 2004.
He then joined Sovcomflot.
Tonkovidov was born in 1964 in Khabarovsk.
He is a trained marine engineer and previously worked for Sovcomflot from 1993 to 2003 before going on to work for Volga-Baltic Shipping Company.
Tonkovidov then went on to run Sovcomflot subsidiary Novoship before re-joining the parent company again in 2012.
