Weird to see Gerhard Schroeder in Brussels in his job as a businessman/lobbyist for the Russian/German gas industry, especially when you’re more accustomed to watching him throwing his weight around here as Germany’s chancellor.

On Wednesday he was in town representing Nord Stream, the Baltic Sea pipeline project which will run between Russia and Germany, cunningly bypassing Poland. The infrastructure is a joint venture led by Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled gas giant, with two German companies.

As one scornful EU official said: "How nice of him to come to Brussels. Isn’t he an employee of Mr Putin these days?"

Of course, ex-heads of government are allowed to chase the big bucks.

What made Mr Schroeder’s move unseemly was that he helped to bring the 5bn euro project into being when he was chancellor. Mr Schroeder and Mr Putin presided over signing the pipeline contract in September 2005, days before the chancellor was voted out of office.

Also, the pipeline is divisive because it bypasses Poland and other transit countries on its way to bringing Russian gas to western Europe. This comes as the EU strives to do energy deals with Moscow - its main foreign gas provider - with a common voice.

Mr Schroeder, chair of Nord Stream’s shareholder’s committee, argues that the pipeline will help ensure Europe’s long-term energy supplies. His successor as chancellor, Angela Merkel, also backs the project.

But Mr Schroder side-stepped a press question on how he felt about coming to Brussels in his new guise.

There’s lots of speculation about what Tony Blair will do after he leaves office in a couple of months as he slides down the greasy pole of power. Pen his memoirs? Bag a lucrative US-speaking tour? Whatever he does, does anyone think that it will be as cringe-making as Mr Schroeder’s lobbying role?

February 8th, 2007 in Energy | Permalink