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[Shiggy]

Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, looks set to deepen his already close ties with the Russian energy sector, after he was nominated as an independent director to the board of state-controlled oil company Rosneft.

The 73-year-old Mr Schröder, who has long enjoyed a close relationship with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, has been chairman of the gas pipeline consortium Nord Stream since 2005, the year he was voted out of office.

Nord Stream operates a pipeline running under the Baltic Sea that brings Russian gas to Germany and is 51 per cent owned by Gazprom. Last year, Mr Schröder switched to become manager of Nord Stream 2, an expansion of the original pipeline, of which Gazprom is sole shareholder.

Mr Schröder's appointment to a senior role in a commercial project he had championed while in government proved highly controversial at the time, with many German politicians accusing him of an ethical lapse. He has consistently denied he had done anything wrong.

But joining the Rosneft board could prove equally contentious. Since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the company has been under western sanctions that restrict its access to foreign capital and technology. Rosneft's chief executive, Igor Sechin, a close confidante of Mr Putin, was also hit with a travel ban and asset freeze.

Rosneft is a publicly listed company with international shareholders — BP owns 20 per cent — but a controlling 50 per cent stake is held by the Russian state and it is often seen as a conduit for Kremlin policies.

A government resolution published late on Friday and signed by Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev lists a number of candidates for the Rosneft board. Those representing the Russian government are Andrey Belousov, an economic adviser to Mr Putin, and Mr Sechin, who are both already board members, as well as Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister.

Those nominated to be independent directors are Mr Schröder, as well as three men who are already on the board: Matthias Warnig, managing director of Nord Stream; Donald Humphreys, a former ExxonMobil executive; and Oleg Vyugin, an academic and former Russian deputy finance minister.

If all the nominees are elected, Rosneft's board would expand from nine members to 11. Elections will be held at a shareholders' meeting on September 29.

Mr Schröder was also a member of the board of TNK-BP, a joint venture between BP and a group of Soviet-born oligarchs. TNK-BP was acquired by Rosneft in 2013.

Financial Times (paywall)
Google Cache version (no paywall)

Obviously, Schröder is also one of the biggest critics of sanctions imposed on Russia. Meanwhile, Rosneft is a case on its own.

 

[Resident_UA]

People are so easy to buy. If anyone is wondering how Nazis actually managed to be so powerful Global events these days should give you pretty clear answer.

 

[Sloane]

He's Putin's buddy and been working for Gazprom forever so... not really anything new.

 

[sechsterangriff]

Now in hindsight it doesn't surprise me that there are sectors in Germany more than willing to double down on Russian gas even though dependence is acknowledged as an issue and other alternatives are already a reality in southern Europe.

 

[Occam]

Schroeder is an embarrassment.

 

[Coriolanus]

Schröder has pretty much always been horrendously corrupt, so no real surprise there.

 

[freeofgreed]

Any link besides FT?

 

[Shiggy]

Any link besides FT?

What's wrong with the FT?
Deutsche Welle
Reuters
Politico

 

[Dingens]

He's Putin's buddy and been working for Gazprom forever so... not really anything new.

yeah I was gonna ask... is there anything new? granted I haven't been following Schröder closely, I only knew he was always referred to as the "Gasnosse"

 

[jelly]

Money is an effective tool and that's why so many countries are a mess. You can buy your way in.

 

[ViviOggi]

Schröder gonna Schröder

 

[Gentleman Jack]

What's wrong with the FT?
Deutsche Welle
Reuters
Politico

FT is paywalled, so thanks for the extra links

 

[freeofgreed]

What's wrong with the FT?
Deutsche Welle
Reuters
Politico

Well I can't read it for one lol. Thanks.

 

[Shiggy]

FT is paywalled, so thanks for the extra links

That's a bit odd, the Google Cache version should work for you:
https://webcache.googleusercontent....7-a4ce-15b2513cb3ff+&cd=1&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=de

When I click the link above, I also see the paywall. When I go to that link via Google, it works.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

Making bank!

 

[Gurgelhals]

Just FYI: This is the guy who is on record for answering a journalist's question whether Putin is a "flawless democrat" in the affirmative.

Granted, this was in 2004, i.e. a few years before Putin went full despot, but still. So, yes, nothing new under the sun here.

 

[Dr.Phibes]

So? It's been 12 years since he was voted out. At least he didn't pull stuff like that while in office unlike several high profile CDU/CSU politicians.

 

[la_briola]

So? It's been 12 years since he was voted out. At least he didn't pull stuff like that while in office unlike several high profile CDU/CSU politicians.

"Mr Schröder’s appointment to a senior role in a commercial project he had championed while in government proved highly controversial at the time [...]"

He kinda created his own job.

 

[Gurgelhals]

So? It's been 12 years since he was voted out. At least he didn't pull stuff like that while in office unlike several high profile CDU/CSU politicians.

Well, the matter of the Nord Stream gas pipeline was largely negotiated during his tenure as Chancellor. It's politically problematic because, by going directly from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, the pipeline bypasses transit countries such as the Baltic states and Poland — all fellow EU member states, mind you. So it's basically a deal that privileges German relations with Russia over those with other EU member states.

Schröder has always been Putin's boy; it just got more ridiculous after he was voted out, because Putin's quasi-dictatorial tendencies didn't really become as blatant as they are today until the end of the noughties.

 

[Dr.Phibes]

Well, the matter of the Nord Stream gas pipeline was largely negotiated during his tenure as Chancellor. It's politically problematic because, by going directly from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, the pipeline bypasses transit countries such as the Baltic states and Poland — all fellow EU member states, mind you. So it's basically a deal that privileges German relations with Russia over those with other EU member states.

Schröder has always been Putin's boy; it just got more ridiculous after he was voted out, because Putin's quasi-dictatorial tendencies didn't really become as blatant as they are today until the end of the noughties.

To be fair, most of the planning happened before any of these countries joined the EU.
But I find it laughable that Schröder gets attacked left and right while people seemingly forgot that the CDU under Kohl accepted bribes from arms dealers or you know, that Fat Bavarian Bastard aka FJS who accepted bribes from arms manufacturers while he was MoD.

 

[Xando]

Schröder is a cunt