Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday party, the Kremlin announced Thursday.
Putin celebrated his 74th birthday in Moscow on Wednesday. The Kremlin said Putin learned that Schröder was on a business trip to the Russian capital through Russian media.
“The president invited his old friend to his home,” the Kremlin said, with the Russian government releasing photos of Schröder and Putin smiling and shaking hands.
Schröder visited the Hyperglobus branch after joining the board of directors
Schröder, 82, was in Moscow to visit one of the branches of the new Hyperglobus supermarket chain. The former German chancellor was appointed to the channel’s supervisory board last week.
Hyperglobus was originally part of the German retail company Globus Holding, which operates Globus supermarkets in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Globus Holding also owned supermarkets in Russia, but sold its stake last year, bringing those stores into a separate company, Hyperglobus.
What reactions did Schröder face in Germany regarding his relations with Russia?
Schröder, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), served as German chancellor from 1998 to 2005.
Since leaving the chancellery, Schröder has worked for Russian state-owned energy companies and also maintained personal contacts with Putin.
Schröder’s fondness for Russia has sparked controversy, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Schröder’s taxpayer-funded Berlin office was closed in 2022 due to his involvement in the Russian energy sector, and he also faced calls from fellow party members to be expelled from the SPD.
Schröder, however, survived the attempted expulsion from his party.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
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