The news came four days after Polyus' largest shareholder, Suleiman Kerimov, agreed to sell his stake in Uralkali , the world's largest potash miner, to tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, a former co-owner of the gold firm.
Pikhoya has indicated that he is willing to continue as Polyus CEO until a successor has been appointed, the gold producer added in a statement.
Polyus declined further comment. Pikhoya did not reply when contacted by Reuters.
Next summer Polyus plans to start its Natalka project in Russia's far east a challenging and costly project to develop one of the world's largest untapped deposits.
The company's chief operating officer is James Nieuwenhuys, who has a degree in mechanical engineering. Prior to joining Polyus, Nieuwenhuys was a managing director for South Africa at SNC-Lavalin, an engineering and construction company.