Fossil Energy – Appointment
Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, has been nominated to join the board of Russian energy giant Gazprom, fuelling scrutiny of his close links to the Kremlin-controlled company as tension mounts between Moscow and the west over whether Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.
Gazprom is also facing criticism over whether it has stoked a gas crisis in Europe by sending fewer supplies than in prior years.
The group on Friday said it had proposed Schröder as a candidate to be appointed at its annual shareholder meeting on June 30.
In the list of 11 candidates to the board, Schröder is set to replace Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of Kazakhstan’s former long-serving president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Schröder served as Germany’s chancellor during the early years of Vladimir Putin’s presidency in Russia. He joined the board of directors of Rosneft, Russia’s top oil producer, in 2017.
He also has close ties to Nord Stream, the Gazprom-controlled pipeline bringing gas from Russia to Germany.
Schröder became head of the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream shortly after leaving office and is president of the administrative board of Nord Stream 2, a new branch of the pipeline that will double its capacity. The new pipeline is still awaiting regulatory approval in Berlin.