White House man rejects Putin's offer of oil firm job (Bush's friend)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1671759,00.html?gusrc=rss

One of George Bush's closest friends and former cabinet members has publicly rejected an offer made by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for him to head one of Russia's largest state oil companies.

Donald Evans, the former US commerce secretary and member of the White House prayer group to whom Mr Bush is said to talk almost daily, rejected the chairmanship of the state oil firm Rosneft late on Monday. In what many see an embarrassment for the Kremlin leader weeks before Russia accepts the G8 presidency, Mr Evans told journalists in Washington that Mr Putin had offered him a senior role at the firm during a visit to Moscow.

"I knew that to do this right would require a substantial part of my time and I just wasn't in a position to offer that," he told Associated Press. He has a number of business interests, and a 16-year old son at school.

The move hampers what analysts say is a Kremlin plan to recruit former foreign officials with powerful connections to provide an internationally legitimate face for their expanding state energy business. Two weeks ago, the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder was appointed head of Russia's Gazprom north European gas pipeline business (NEGP), a project he negotiated while in office using his close personal ties with Mr Putin.

why go public with this ??
Why try to embarass Putin ??

Curious indeed.

Did Condi throw out his name,, what give's?

Pending indictments might explain his actions. Nothing else does.