German ex-chancellor Schröder says he won't join Gazprom board
Germany's former chancellor Gerhard Schröder has said he will not be joining the supervisory board of Gazprom, after a row over his ties to Russian energy giants.
"I gave up on the nomination to the supervisory board of Gazprom some time ago. I have also communicated this to the company," he wrote in a post on online network Linkedin on Tuesday.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to huge public pressure in Germany for Schröder to turn his back on President Vladimir Putin and to sever his ties with Russia's biggest energy companies.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who like Schröder is from the Social Democratic Party, has also repeatedly and publicly urged the former leader to give up his Russian jobs.
Fed up with Schröder's attitude, the German parliament last Thursday decided to strip him of perks, including an office and paid staff accorded to him as a former chancellor.
READ ALSO: Germany strips Schröder of official perks over links to Russia
That same day, EU lawmakers separately called in a non-binding resolution for sanctions to be slapped on him if he refused to give up on lucrative board seats at Russian companies.
A day later, Russian energy group Rosneft said Schröder will be leaving its board.
Schröder, 78, had been due to join Gazprom's supervisory board in June - a job that he has now finally said he will not accept.
Schröder, Germany's chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as unjustified, but said that dialogue must continue with Moscow.
Gazprom is behind the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia, which has been halted by Scholz in one of the West's first responses to the war in Ukraine.
Schröder himself signed off on the first Nord Stream in his final weeks in office.
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"I gave up on the nomination to the supervisory board of Gazprom some time ago. I have also communicated this to the company," he wrote in a post on online network Linkedin on Tuesday.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to huge public pressure in Germany for Schröder to turn his back on President Vladimir Putin and to sever his ties with Russia's biggest energy companies.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who like Schröder is from the Social Democratic Party, has also repeatedly and publicly urged the former leader to give up his Russian jobs.
Fed up with Schröder's attitude, the German parliament last Thursday decided to strip him of perks, including an office and paid staff accorded to him as a former chancellor.
READ ALSO: Germany strips Schröder of official perks over links to Russia
That same day, EU lawmakers separately called in a non-binding resolution for sanctions to be slapped on him if he refused to give up on lucrative board seats at Russian companies.
A day later, Russian energy group Rosneft said Schröder will be leaving its board.
Schröder, 78, had been due to join Gazprom's supervisory board in June - a job that he has now finally said he will not accept.
Schröder, Germany's chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as unjustified, but said that dialogue must continue with Moscow.
Gazprom is behind the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia, which has been halted by Scholz in one of the West's first responses to the war in Ukraine.
Schröder himself signed off on the first Nord Stream in his final weeks in office.
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