Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will not accept a nomination to the board of Russian energy company Gazprom.
Schroeder said on May 24 on social media that he told Gazprom “some time ago” that he was not interested in the nomination.
Gazprom nominated Schroeder for a supervisory board position shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. The 78-year-old had been due to join Gazprom's supervisory board in June.
The longtime friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin has come under increasing international pressure to sever his ties with Russia's biggest energy companies since Moscow launched the invasion.
Within Germany, Schroeder, who was German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has faced fierce criticism for years over his work for the companies.
Gazprom has a majority stake in the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany, which was halted by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in one of the West's first responses to the war in Ukraine.
Schroeder's announcement regarding Gazprom comes four days after his resignation from the board of directors of Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft.
German businessman Matthias Warnig also resigned from Rosneft on May 20.
Earlier this month, Schroder had his right to an office at the German parliament in Berlin removed. EU lawmakers separately called in a nonbinding resolution for sanctions against him if he refused to give up lucrative board seats at Russian companies.
