Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on May 24 that he would not join Gazprom's supervisory board, following criticism over his ties to Russian energy companies.
"I gave up my seat on Gazprom's supervisory board some time ago. I also told the company that," he wrote in a post on Linkedin.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to great public pressure in Germany for Schroeder to turn his back on President Vladimir Putin and cut ties with Russia's largest energy companies.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who, like Schröder, is from the Social Democratic Party, has also repeatedly and publicly called on the former political leader to leave Russian affairs.
Because of Schröder's persistence in his views, the German parliament decided on May 19 to strip him of his privileges, including the office and paid staff assigned to him as a former chancellor.
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On the same day, European Union (EU) MPs separately called for a non-binding resolution to impose sanctions on him if he refuses to give up lucrative board seats in Russian companies.
A day later, Russian energy group Rosneft said Schroeder would leave its board.
Schroeder, 78, was due to join Gazprom's supervisory board in June, a job he has now finally said he will not take.
Schröder, Germany's chancellor from 1998 to 2005, condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as unjustified but said dialogue with Moscow must continue.
Gazprom is behind the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline that was halted by Soltz in one of the first Western responses to the war in Ukraine.
Schröder himself signed the permits for the first North Stream gas pipeline in his last weeks as chancellor.
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