Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has declined to serve another term as a member of the board of directors of Russia's major energy company Gazprom. Schröder, who has been heavily criticized for his ties to the Kremlin, wrote on LinkedIn on Tuesday that it has been a long time since he rejected a nomination.
-I gave up the nomination to the Gazprom board some time ago. I have constantly communicated this to the company, writes the former Chancellor, who led Germany from 1998 to 2005.
The Russian oil company Rosneft wrote in a press release earlier Tuesday that Gerhard Schröder is leaving the company's board. Despite the war in Ukraine, Schröder has maintained his ties to the major Russian energy companies.
Employees have resigned in protest
The social democratic SPD, the Greens and the liberals in the FDP have drastically reduced Schröder's privileges. The SPD politician has lost a number of employees who have resigned in protest.
The remaining staff must close his office and subsequently take over other tasks, according to a recommendation to the Bundestag's economics committee from the parties in the governing coalition. It is an office that former chancellors have as a privilege in Berlin. Schröder will, however, be allowed to keep his pension and his bodyguards.
In this, the governing coalition does not go as far as the conservative sister parties CDU and CSU, who also wanted to cancel Schröder's pension because of his contacts with Russia.
- Schröder is damaging Germany's international reputation. Despite the war in Ukraine, he has not yet distanced himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin and is also holding onto his positions in various Russian energy companies, the CDU and CSU said in a statement last week.
When Schröder left the chancellorship, he subsequently took on tasks for, among others, the pipeline company Nord Stream, Russian Gazprom and the energy group Rosneft. Criticism against him has been massive for many years and has intensified after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. There are no precise reports on when Schröder's time at Gazprom will end.
Ritzau / Reuters
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