Gerhard Schröder

Gerhard "Gerd" Fritz Kurt Schröder (born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As chancellor, he led a coalition government of the SPD and Alliance 90/The Greens. Since leaving public office, Schröder has worked for Russian state-owned energy companies, including Nord Stream AG, Rosneft, and Gazprom.

Schröder was a lawyer before becoming a full-time politician, and he was Minister President of Lower Saxony (1990–1998) before becoming chancellor. Replacing the longest-ruling chancellor in modern German history, Helmut Kohl (CDU) in the 1998 federal election, he tried to address unemployment and poverty with the Agenda 2010 labour market reform, which changed the system of welfare benefits. Together with French president Jacques Chirac, in 2003, he did not join the Coalition of the Willing and vehemently criticised the United States for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following the 2005 election, which his party lost, he stood down as chancellor in favour of Angela Merkel of the rival Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was chairman of the board at Nord Stream AG and at Rosneft but in 2022 resigned from chairmanship and paused his plans to join the board of Russian state-run gas company Gazprom. Nonetheless, he continues to be a member of the board at Rosneft. He also had roles as a global manager for investment bank Rothschild, and as chairman of the board of football club Hannover 96.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Schröder was criticised for his policies towards Vladimir Putin's government, his work for Russian state-owned companies, and his lobbying on behalf of Russia. In March 2022, the Public Prosecutor General initiated proceedings related to accusations against Schröder of complicity in crimes against humanity due to his role in Russian state-owned corporations, while the CDU/CSU group demanded that Schröder be included in the European Union sanctions against individuals with ties to the Russian government. An SPD party arbitration committee ruled in March 2023 that he had not violated any party rules and would remain a member of the party.