How the personal interests of a former German chancellor led the country to dependence on Russian gas

It may seem impossible for a former German chancellor to become president of Russian state-owned companies. However, Gerard Schröder, who commanded the Germany from 1998 to 2005, not only is he a personal friend of the Russian president, Vladimir Putinas well as being responsible for reinforcing the dangerous model of the German energy system, which prioritized Russian gas and oil over the nuclear plants that the country already had. He then took on senior positions in Russian state-owned companies on which Germany has become heavily dependent, putting it on the brink of recession.

This week, the former chancellor, who is isolated in Germany, admitted that he met with Putin last month and suggested advising current German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz, who has refused any advice from Putin’s ally.

One of the messages that Schröder gave his countrymen was the importance of authorizing the operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, scheduled for the beginning of the year and suspended on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

During his term as chancellor, the Nord Stream 1 was signed, the first gas pipeline that reinforced Germany’s dependence on Russian gas, preventing the country from seeking other import alternatives or energy sources.

The management and presidency positions he has held in important Russian state-owned companies, such as Gazprom and Rosneft, point to the fact that Schröder’s personal motives led Germany to make a billion-dollar investment in a system that today puts it in the face of crisis. Each of the pipelines cost around 20 billion euros, equivalent to approximately 120 billion reais.

Former Chancellor’s Internal Policy

Schröder ruled Germany from 1998 to 2005 with the Social Democratic Party in a left-wing coalition with the Green Party and East Germany’s far-left Alliance 90.

The construction of Nord Stream 1 was planned during this administration, but the first gas pipeline was only opened in 2012, when Schröder was already director of a Russian state-owned gas company and earned his millionaire percentages from exports.

At the same time, Schröder receives a pension of 8,700 euros (about 55,000 reais) from Germany and maintains an office in Berlin that costs about 500,000 euros (3 million reais) a year to the German coffers.

For Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union party, “Schröder has lost any kind of modesty” and “it is not right to take money from Gazprom and the German state at the same time.”

Schröder’s party, which is the same as Scholz’s, wants the ex-chancellor’s expulsion. “I don’t think it’s right for Gerhard Schröder to carry out these functions and I also think it would be right for him to step down,” the current German chancellor told public broadcaster ZDF.

For his part, Schröder told broadcasters RTL/ntv that, through his friendly relationship with the Russian president, he could still “be useful to Germany”. And he even warned: “If you don’t want to use Nord Stream 2, you’ll have to pay the consequences.”

Russian gas is used to blackmail

Faced with the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia because invasion of ukrainePutin has reduced gas exports to Europe and it has been common for Russia to use the excuse that Nord Stream 1 turbines are undergoing maintenance.

The Russian retaliation was a 60% reduction in gas shipments to Germany, a decision that could paralyze important industrial sectors in the country and on the continent, mainly during the next winter, which begins in December in the northern hemisphere.

The International Monetary Fund predicts that Germany’s GDP could fall by 3% if the Russians cut off their gas supply entirely.

In May, the country reached a deficit in foreign trade that had not happened since 1991. The threat of industrial stoppage warns of the risk of mass layoffs and reduced consumption.

The chaos that Germany finds itself in began when Schröder signed the creation of gas pipelines that directly connect the two countries across the Baltic Sea. The close alliance with a possible enemy now puts Germany in likely need to give in to Russian blackmail or run out of energy soon.