Former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been appointed chairman of Russian state-controlled oil producer Rosneft, deepening his relationship with the country’s energy industry by taking one of its most high-profile jobs. Long close to Russian president Vladimir Putin, Mr Schröder will chair the Kremlin-controlled oil producer while also serving as chairman of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a project owned by Russian state-run gas company Gazprom. 

The 73-year-old will replace an aide to Mr Putin as chairman of Rosneft, the world’s largest publicly listed producer of crude and the Russian state’s most important corporate asset. The company is currently operating under western sanctions imposed after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. “I am very glad that I was elected, [but] I am yet to hold consultations,” said Mr Schröder at a press conference to mark his appointment. “While I’m not ready to make statements about the company’s work, my interests are to represent Germany and not least to have good relations with Russia.”

“I will use the experience I have collected in the political and corporate spheres to help this company,” he said, later adding that he was not a supporter of western sanctions against Russian companies. 

Shareholders at the company’s extraordinary general meeting in St Petersburg had earlier voted to increase the company’s dividend payouts to 50 per cent of net profit under IFRS reporting standards and to expand the company’s board to 11 members, including Mr Schröder. “He has entered history as the most loyal German leader to Russia,” Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin told shareholders in a glowing endorsement of Mr Schröder ahead of the ballot. “He has exceptional competences that meet the requirements of the company,” Mr Sechin said. “Mr Schröder’s entry to the board will certainly contribute to the development of the company’s international business, building its presence in Europe, and developing constructive relationships with western partners.” 

A Social Democrat who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, Mr Schröder sparked broad criticism across Germany’s political spectrum last month when news of his nomination to the Rosneft board was announced. On Friday, Norbert Röttgen, head of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, said that Mr Schröder’s accession to the Rosneft board was “completely reprehensible”.  Mr Röttgen said that he was “simply exploiting the glory of his title as former chancellor” and converting it “into cash”, agreeing to work for a company that is a “central component of President Putin’s system of power”. “[Mr] Schröder’s involvement won’t improve relations between Germany and Russia. On the contrary, it will strain them. 

If [he] thinks he wants to ensure energy security in Germany, then I consider that a bad joke since he will only be increasing Germany’s dependence on Russia,” Mr Röttgen added. Controversy over Mr Schröder’s relationship with Russia began in 2006, when he became chairman of the shareholder committee of Gazprom’s first Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea, a project that he had endorsed while in office. Nord Stream 2, a second pipeline along the same route, has become a flashpoint in EU affairs.

Financed by EU energy companies Shell, Engie, Uniper, OMV and Wintershall, it is condemned by many eastern European states that say it will endanger the continent’s energy security by increasing dependence on Russian gas.