The European Union is considering Germanyʼs proposal to ban EU citizens from holding high-paying positions in Russian state-owned companies.
Bloomberg writes about it.
If this restriction is officially presented by the European Commission and supported by all EU countries, it will affect former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
According to German media, Schroeder is now the chairman of the shareholder committee of Nord Stream AG, which is owned by the Russian company Gazprom.
Other former EU officials, including Finlandʼs Esko Aho and Austriaʼs Christian Kern, as well as former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, resigned from the boards of several Russian companies after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- In early March, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Schroeder flew to Moscow to meet with his old friend Putin and said that he was interested in ending the war, "but itʼs not that simple." For this, he was criticized in Germany, and the European Parliament proposed to include Schroeder in the sanctions list.
- On May 20, it became known that Schroeder is leaving the position of chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, which he held since 2017. A few days later, the former Chancellor of Germany rejected Gazpromʼs offer to join its board of directors.
- In August 2022, Schroeder sued the Bundestag to return the privileges he had taken away. They were taken, probably, because of close ties with Russia.