Ericsson boss Svanberg is BP's choice for chairman

He replaces Peter Sutherland, chairman for the last 12 years.

Sutherland's departure was delayed first by a boardroom fall out with former chief executive Lord Browne, then the highly embarrassing departure of Browne in a perjury scandal over a gay relationship, and then the withdrawal of several candidates in recent months.

During all this Sutherland was also called to man the pumps as the company was involved in fire-fighting to save its reputation, following further scandals including the emergence of safety lapses which led to 15 deaths at its Texas City oil refinery and a major oil spillage in Alaska which again questioned BP's competences.

"It is the end of a particular chapter in the history of BP," said chief executive Tony Hayward of Sutherland's departure, "and the beginning of a new one as we continue on our journey to restore the company's fortunes."

Svanberg, 57, is to step down as chief executive of telecommunications group Ericsson and chairman of its mobile phone Japanese joint venture Sony Ericsson at the end of the year.

He has headed Ericsson for seven years during which time thousands of workers, many of them in the UK, have been axed.

Svanberg will join the BP board as a non-executive director in September and replaces Sutherland as chairman on 1 January.

He will be paid £600,000 a year for working an average of two to three days a week.

BP should not have to pay handsome relocation fees for Svanberg as he already has a flat in London.

Asked what Svanberg will bring to BP, Hayward told the Evening Standard: "He will help me as we embark on our journey to make BP best in sector.

"It is important that we have appointed an international leader.

"We are not fixated on nationality but it was important that we had an internationalist.

"He has great experience in working in non-OECD countries [emerging markets] which is exactly where our greatest opportunities lie.

"As chairman he will help in our governmental relationships as almost all of our business is in contracts with governments. It is not terribly important that he does not come from the oil sector. As chairman it is his role to lead the board and there are benefits from having an outsider who can bring a different perspective to our company and to our industry."

Hayward denied Svanberg's cost-cutting record at Ericsson attracted BP.

"I would like to think we have already gone a long way down our restructuring route and that is already being seen in the restoration of our competitive performance and in the change in sentiment within the company."

In a statement Svanberg said he expected to commit the majority of his time to BP business.