Two Petropavlovsk shareholders want ex-CEO back on the board

May 9 (Reuters) - Two Petropavlovsk shareholders want to bring long-time chief executive and co-founder Pavel Maslovskiy back to the board, the Russian gold miner said on Wednesday.

CABS Platform Ltd and Slevin Ltd, which together hold a 9.11 percent stake in Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG.L - news) , requested that all existing directors are removed and former CEO Maslovskiy is brought back to the board at the next shareholders meeting, Petropavlovsk said.

Petropavlovsk named Roman Deniskin as CEO in February, following Maslovskiy's resignation last year after a clash with shareholders over control of the company, which also resulted in the departure of another co-founder, Peter Hambro.

Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, Petropavlovsk's top shareholder with a 22 percent stake, said the move had come as a surprise.

"I am keen to find out more about the new shareholders and the proposed new board's plans for the business," Rakishev said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Rakishev told Reuters in January he wanted to bring back Maslovskiy as CEO. He said he was not in a position legally to interfere when Deniskin was appointed in February. (Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdynia; additional reporting by Barbara Lewis in London; editing by Jason Neely)