Christophe de Margerie, who as CEO of French oil giant Total SA championed deeper ties with Russia, was killed on Oct. 20 in an airplane crash in Moscow. He was 63.

The boss of France’s biggest company by sales died at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport after his jet collided with a snowplow operated by a drunk driver. Three crew members onboard the plane were also killed.

The grandson of the founder of champagne-maker Taittinger SA, de Margerie started his career in Total’s finance department in 1974 and took over as CEO in February 2007, when that post was split from the chairman’s. During four decades at Total, his sole employer, he oversaw far-flung operations from Indonesia to the Middle East to Kazakhstan.

With de Margerie at the helm, Total developed closer ties with Russia, pushing ahead with a partnership in a vast natural- gas development on the Yamal Peninsula even as souring relations with the U.S. and EU over the conflict in Ukraine threatened to scuttle the OAO Novatek-led project. De Margerie has said Russia will continue to play a vital role in Europe’s energy supply, even as the EU tries to reduce dependence on its gas.