Scholz tells ex-chancellor Schroeder to quit Russian energy posts
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged the country's former leader Gerhard Schroeder to give up board seats at Russian oil and gas companies in light of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Schroeder serves as chairman of state-owned Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, and as chairman of the shareholder committee of the Nord Stream gas pipeline operating company. In early February he was also nominated to join the board of directors of national gas company Gazprom.
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Schroeder, aged 77, served as German chancellor from 1998 until 2005, and is a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Like Scholz, he was a Social Democrat.
"My advice to Gerhard Schroeder is to withdraw from these posts," the current chancellor said in an interview with Germany's ZDF television network on March 3. "I hope he reconsiders the decisions he has made in the past."
Germany has strong energy ties with Russia, receiving half of its gas and coal and over a third of its oil from the country. But in response to Moscow's actions in Ukraine, Scholz has said Germany should build LNG terminals and bolster domestic gas supply to wean itself off Russian gas. The government has also halted the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.