Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, close to Vladimir Putin, under fire from critics of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine, will finally leave Rosneft’s board of directors, Russia’s oil group announced .
According to Rosneft, Mr. Schröder informed the company that he could not extend his duties as chairman of the board of directors of Russia’s number one oil company. This announcement comes days after decisions in Berlin and Brussels targeting the former Social Democratic leader, who served as chancellor from 1998 to 2005.
On Thursday, the Bundestag, the lower house of the German Parliament, decided to deprive him of some of his advantages as a former chancellor, including the allocation of offices.
In addition, in Brussels, representatives of the European Parliament voted by a large majority for a non-binding resolution asking him by name to resign from his posts.
European board members of major Russian companies and politicians who continue to receive Russian funds should be added to the list of EU sanctions, the text says.
Other links to Russia
In addition to his duties at Rosneft, Mr. Schröder is chairman of the shareholders committee of Nord Stream AG, the consortium that notably manages the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Mr. Schröder is also due to join the supervisory board of Russian giant Gazprom in June.
Dismissed by honor differences of some cities and targeted by calls for his ouster from the social-democratic party SPD, Mr. Schröder announced in April that he had no intention of resigning, unless Moscow stopped its delivery of gas to Germany.
Another Rosneft board member, Matthias Warnig, also resigned, according to a statement by the Russian group.
A former high -ranking Stasi official
Mr. Warnig, who is also CEO of the operating company of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, began his career in power circles in the communist GDR. According to German media, he was a senior Stasi official (the East German Ministry of Internal Security, of bad memory), in the espionage section.
MEPs also called on former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl to resign. Appointed in March 2021 by the Russian government to the board of Rosneft, the group confirmed him in his duties in June of the same year.
I stayed to meet my one year term obligationhe told AFP on Friday night. In March, I didn’t quit, because I didn’t have the style to jump ship in the middle of a storm..
But the company was informed since March I have not been available in the next electionshe added.
The reward paid at the end of a term is not my purpose for performing my duties. Press reports that I live on millions of euros are untrue and part of a series of systematic slandershe clarified.
Source: Radio-Canada
