The Russian gas company Gazprom is sticking to its nomination of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has been the subject of criticism, for the company's supervisory board.

The SPD politician, who is accused of having close ties to Russia and who has been asked by the party leadership to leave the SPD, initially made no statement on Tuesday.

Schröder is a personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin is the driving force behind the attack on Ukraine.

Schröder gave up his position on the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft last week.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously expressed the wish that Schröder should resign his mandate.

The 78-year-old had been accused across party lines of filling high-paying positions in Russian state-owned companies, while the European Union was trying to impose sanctions on the Russian economy in order to help Ukraine in this way.

Because of his commitment to Russia, Schröder also lost the privileges previously granted to former chancellors.

The Budget Committee of the Bundestag decided last week that Schröder's office, which last had four employees, will be closed.

The European Parliament wants to put Schröder on the list of sanctions against oligarchs.

Correction note: An earlier version of the article stated that Schröder had been nominated by Gazprom for a post on the supervisory board.

In fact, Schröder was nominated for the post back in February of this year.

We have corrected this.