Gerhard Schroeder, the former German chancellor turned advocate for the Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom, said on Thursday he would be paid 250,000 euros (US$303,000) a year as chairman of the committee of shareholders of a controversial project to pipe Russian gas directly to Germany.
The north European gas pipeline (NEGP) will link Gazprom's massive network and abundant reserves directly to Germany. Schroeder came in for intense criticism in Germany when he accepted a post on the Gazprom board just after leaving office.
His opponents suggested that his close ties with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had both helped usher the project into existence and secured him a leading role on its board.
His appointment was seen as a public relations coup for the monopoly, lending western respectability to an industry still struggling with its international image.
Schroeder let slip his salary in Moscow on Thursday at which he seemed rattled and lacking his usual smoothness before journalists.
The press conference was due to last an hour but was over in 20 minutes.
He parried further questions about the ethics of his new job by stressing the need for the pipe.
"The pipeline is not aimed against anyone. It allows us to ensure the reliable supply of gas to Europe," he said.
He denied there was anything inappropriate about his post.
The NEGP will deliver cheap gas to Germany, and possibly Britain, when it is extended. It will travel from the Russian port of Vyborg to Greifswald in Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing the Baltic states and Poland, which used to receive fees for the fuel's passage.
The NEGP is a joint venture between Gazprom, the German energy firm E.ON and BASF, the German conglomerate.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
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