Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder led the board of directors of Rosneft in October 2017. As it turned out, he refused to pay his due, said Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of Rosneft.

"The contribution that Schroeder brings to the expansion of Russian-German cooperation is a conscious step ... a conscious position based on an understanding of the strategic importance of such cooperation for the long-term and sustainable development of the German economy. And it's no coincidence that Mr. Schroeder accepted the offer to work for Rosneft, refusing to pay for his work on the company's board of directors, "Sechin said (quoted by TASS).

A basic remuneration of $ 500,000 for a corporate year is provided for the performance of the functions of a member of the board of directors of Rosneft, this remuneration is "comparable to the remuneration of directors of large oil companies and is sufficient to attract, motivate and retain on the board of directors persons who have the competence and qualifications necessary for the company" , is written in the internal documents of Rosneft.

At the same time, the chairman of the committee receives an additional $ 50,000, and a member of the board of directors participating in the work of the committee - $ 30,000 per year.

Whether the chairman of the board receives any premium is not clear. In the documents of the state company this is not indicated.

Comparable payments to the board of directors of Gazprom. At the annual meeting in 2017, shareholders approved an increase in total payments for the calendar year - from June 2016 to June 2017. So, the remuneration of the chairman of the board of directors (this post is occupied by Viktor Zubkov) and his deputy (Alexey Miller takes this post) grew by 20% to 31.1 million rubles. ($ 551,000) and 30.1 million rubles. ($ 533,000 at the current exchange rate), respectively.

$ 500,000 is not the highest reward in Russian corporate practice. For example, Sergey Chemezov, an independent chairman of the board of directors of Uralkali, receives $ 1 million, follows from the company's rewards policy. The Board of Directors Chemezov heads in 2015. The independent chairman of the board of directors of Norilsk Nickel Garret Penee receives $ 1.12 million a year.

But Schröder is not the only one who will not receive remuneration for his work in the structures of Rosneft, such cases have happened. In July 2017, 97.2% of Bashneft shareholders voted against paying in total 8.1 million rubles. Alexander Korsik (former president and member of the board of directors of Bashneft), as well as directors Vitaly Sergeychuk, Victor Orlov and Yuri Shafranik. In the materials for the meeting it was noted that Corsica needed to pay 887,097 rubles for work last year, and Sergeichuk, Orlov and Shafranik for 2.4 million rubles.

 German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not approve the election of Schroeder to the board of directors of Rosneft. "They do not do that," she noted in August 2017, answering questions from fellow citizens in the online broadcast of Bild magazine. Shortly after his resignation from the post of Chancellor of Germany, Schroeder moved to Nord Stream AG, the operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and in October 2016 was headed by his board of directors. Deutsche Welle, referring to sources in the SPD, which includes Schroeder, reported that the party feels some discomfort due to the nomination of this policy to the board of Rosneft. After statements, Merkel Schröder said in an interview with bild.de that he considers the criticism unfair in his address. "In Germany, many are very interested in establishing reasonable relations with Russia," he noted.

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Most likely, the waiver of remuneration has nothing to do with sanctions, says partner Nektorov Saveliev & Partners Ilya Rachkov. In his opinion, Schroeder refused the money of Rosneft in order not to give his party members in the SPD and their opponents an excuse to criticize him again for receiving money from Russia. According to critics, when he left the post of chancellor, he prepared a place on the board of directors of Nord Stream AG. The increase in compensation at the expense of Rosneft could again bring down on him a wave of criticism, Rachkov said.