Ex-Chief of Russia's Gazprom Vyakhirev Dies at 78 Rem Vyakhirev, the man who helped create Russia's state-run Gazprom natural gas giant and led it for nearly a decade, has died at 78. Gazprom said Vyakhirev died Monday at his home outside Moscow. The cause of death wasn't given. FILE - In this file photo taken on Friday, May 19, 2000, Rem Vyakhirev, former Gazprom chief executive, seen during a talks in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Vyakhirev was later replaced by Alexei Miller, a protege of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vyakhirev, the man who helped create Russia's Gazprom natural gas giant and led it for nearly a decade, has died. He was 78. Gazprom said that Vyakhirev died at his home Monday. The cause of death wasn't given. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) Close Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev praised Vyakhirev as a man who helped make Gazprom a "key player on the global energy market and the backbone of Russia's economy." Vyakhirev began his career as an oil engineer 1957 and rose through the ranks of the Soviet Union's oil and gas industries to become the first deputy gas minister in 1986. He became Gazprom chief in 1992 and oversaw its steady growth. Vyakhirev served as Gazprom's CEO until 2001, when President Vladimir Putin replaced him with his loyalist, Alexei Miller.