The Russian gas company Gazprom has officially nominated former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder for a seat on its supervisory board. The SPD politician, who is accused of having close ties to Russia and who has been asked by the party leadership to leave the SPD, initially made no statement on Tuesday. Schröder is a personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is the driving force behind the attack on Ukraine.
Schröder gave up his position on the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft last week. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously expressed the wish that Schröder should resign his mandate.
The 78-year-old was accused across party lines of filling high-paying positions in Russian state-owned companies, while the European Union is trying to impose sanctions on the Russian economy in order to help Ukraine in this way.
