Donald Evans, a former US commerce secretary with close personal ties to the Bush White House, has declined an offer by Vladimir Putin to become chairman of Rosneft, the Russian state-controlled oil company.

Mr Evans, who for many years has encouraged Russia to adopt more transparent business practices, told the Financial Times he had turned down overtures to assume a post with “serious responsibilities” because of personal commitments.

“I knew to do this right would require a substantial amount of my time and I was not in a position to do that,” Mr Evans said.

He insisted that the approach represented a welcome acknowledgment by the Russian government of the need for transparency, trust and the compliance with rules and regulations governing the global financial marketplace at a company like Rosneft. Mr Evans also emphasised that he believed that the decision to reach out to a former US executive with his level of experience running a publicly traded company was an encouraging sign that Russia was on the right path to opening up one its most vital industries.

The invitation, made personally at a private meeting in Moscow this month, has been widely viewed as part of a broad campaign by the Kremlin to enlist European and US officials to top jobs in Russian business, in order to improve the reputation of the country’s largest companies among international investors.

Rosneft, however, which has been criticised for the controversial role it played in the forced break-up of Yukos, the oil company once controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Mr Khodorkovsky, now jailed in Siberia, is recognised as a political prisoner by some in Washington who remain disdainful of Rosneft’s acquisition of Yukos’s main production arms in a state-backed auction.

News that Mr Evans, a former oil industry executive in Texas, was considering the Rosneft chairmanship had drawn first incredulity and then sharp criticism in the US, with the Washington establishment and the media warning that his appointment could be exploited by the Kremlin as evidence that the US was giving tacit approval to Mr Putin’s handling of the Yukos affair.

Critics were quick to draw comparisons between Mr Evans and the controversial decision by Gerhard Schröder, the recently departed German chancellor, to accept an appointment with the North European Gas Pipeline Company, a project controlled by Gazprom, the Russian oil giant.

Rosneft’s failure to recruit Mr Evans underscores the business challenges the company faces as it prepares for its expected initial public offering in London next year. Russian officials have said the group could be valued at as much as $58bn.

Rosneft’s current chairman is by Igor Sechin, Mr Putin’s powerful but low-profile deputy chief of staff, who is viewed as the head of the “siloviki”, or former security personnel, in the Kremlin.

The Kremlin is expected to continue the search for a well-connected westerner – possibly targeting executives without the political constraints of Mr Evans – after Mr Putin spoke strongly last Friday in support of bringing international expertise into Rosneft.