Russia's Rosneft Elects German Ex-chancellor Schroeder as Chairman
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder faced further criticism at home after he was elected as chairman of Russia's biggest oil producer Rosneft on Friday.
Schroeder, a Social Democrat who led Germany from 1998 to 2005, prompted widespread criticism in his homeland in August when he was nominated to Rosneft's board, given Western sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis and Chancellor Angela Merkel's frosty relations with the Kremlin.
Shareholders in state-controlled Rosneft, which is subject to the sanctions, elected Schroeder to its board at a meeting on Friday, and shortly afterwards Schroeder told a news briefing he was pleased to have been chosen to be chairman.
"Schroeder is a reputed and renowned politician, who has persistently advocated strategic cooperation between Germany, Europe and Russia," Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin told the company's shareholders before the vote.
"He is striving to improve Germany's ties with Russia."
Schroeder calls Russian President Vladimir Putin his friend and has criticised moves to impose sanctions on Russia.
"I really regret that there are sanctions," Schroeder said after the vote.
"The talks must be about easing the sanctions," he added through an interpreter. "I am not among those who support these sanctions."
"It is reasonable for the entire world to have a stable Russia from an economic and political point of view."
Germany's mass circulation Bild newspaper, which had dubbed Schroeder "Gazprom Gerhard", reported the news of his election with the headline: "Now he definitively belongs to Putin."
DIVISIVE FIGURE
Schroeder, 73, is already a divisive figure in the centre-left SPD given his labour market reforms.
His nomination to the Rosneft board in August triggered criticism from across the political spectrum, with Merkel and the leader of the Social Democrats, Martin Schulz, both saying they would not take posts in industry after leaving office
Schroeder hit back at that time, saying some of his critics wanted to push Germany into a "new Cold War".
"Imagine if I had been proposed not for a Rosneft board position but for Exxon in America," he said in an interview last month. "Nobody would ask my true motives."
"It is the largest oil company in the world, with important links to Germany," he said. "It is not the long arm of the Kremlin. They are the majority shareholder, but BP is a shareholder - not a small shop. Qatar is a shareholder."
Before the vote, Russia's state-controlled television channels extolled Schroeder as a longtime friend of Russia.
Schroeder, whose father died in World War Two fighting the Red Army, is currently chairman of the shareholders’ committee at Nord Stream AG, a Gazprom-led consortium established to build a pipeline carrying Russian natural gas across the Baltic Sea.
Since last year, he has also been chairman of Nord Stream 2 AG which aims to build a new pipeline to double the capacity of the existing gas export pipeline across the Baltic. (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Berlin; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Mark Potter and Keith Weir)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Standard Chartered Reiterates $94 Brent Call
- India Halts Russia Oil Supplies From Sanctioned Tanker Giant
- DOI Announces Proposal for Second GOM Offshore Wind Auction
- Centcom, Dryad Outline Recent Moves Around Red Sea Region
- PetroChina Set to Receive Venezuelan Oil
- Czech Conglomerate to Buy Major Stake in Gasnet for $917MM
- US DOE Offers $44MM in Funding to Boost Clean Power Distribution
- Oil Settles Lower as Stronger Dollar Offsets Tighter Market
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea