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German ex-chancellor Schroeder voted in as pipeline boss
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 03 30 06Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was voted in Thursday as head of the supervisory board of a consortium that plans to build a natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, a company statement said.
The vote confirming Schroeder as the supervisory board's chairman was taken at the board's first meeting at Gazprom's headquarters in Moscow.
"This pipeline is not aimed against anyone but is aimed at ensuring the security of gas supplies to Europe," Schroeder said.
Other members of the supervisory board include Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller as well as officials from Germany's E.ON and BASF.
Gazprom has a 51.0 percent stake in the North European Gas Pipeline, while BASF and E.ON hold 24.5 percent each.
Gazprom said Thursday that Gaz de France could also become a partner in the project.
Schroeder's acceptance of the post less than a month after he left the chancellor's office last November prompted widespread criticism in Germany.
He and Russian President Vladimir Putin had worked closely on cementing German investment in the pipeline.
Earlier this week he paid a visit to Gazprom production facilities in the Siberian province of Yamalo-Nenets.
The pipeline plan has prompted criticism from new EU members Lithuania and Poland, which complained that Schroeder had gone over their heads on a pipeline that is likely to pass through other Baltic countries' territorial waters.
Work on the pipeline has already begun onshore in Russia.
Under the Russian plan the pipeline will eventually connect not only to Germany but to other parts of western Europe, including the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain.
AFP 30 03 06 0826 GMTCopyright © 1994-2006 Agence France-Presse. All Rights Reserved.
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