When Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (VVD) switched to the oil and gas sector last summer, it was mainly about the demand why Prime Minister Rutte initially wanted to maintain her in the government† The fact that she was going to help represent the interests of the Russian energy group Gazprom attracted less attention. curious. Because Gazprom not only pumps up gas, but is also an instrument of the Kremlin. The fact that Russian state-owned companies in Europe diligently bind ex-politicians to themselves is therefore also a political matter.
The most famous case is Gerhard Schröder. The ex-Chancellor has been the main German trailblazer for the Kremlin for nearly two decades. First he was shareholder chairman of gas pipeline Nord Stream. In 2017, Schröder . became president of Rosneft, a state-owned conglomerate led by a longtime bag carrier of President Vladimir Putin. Soon he will be too supervisor at Gazprom† In the meantime, Schröder, who once coiffed Putin as a “clean democrat”, is not willing to engage in undaunted politics. For example, according to him, Russia is not to blame in the Donbas. The current tensions are at the “clatter of armsfrom Ukraine, said Schröder.
Former French Prime Minister François Fillon (2007-2012) has also recently served the Kremlin. Just before Christmas he was elected Commissioner of Sibur, a petrochemical concern led by men close to Putin. Last summer, Fillon, who was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud in 2020, had already been appointed government commissioner at Zarubeshneft, a company engaged in oil and gas exploration abroad. At the same time, Austrian ex-minister Karin Kneissl, whose 2018 wedding was graced by guest of honor Putin, was member of the general management of Rosneft†
The Netherlands is particularly interesting for Russian (state) companies because of the letterbox companies that offer legal protection and sometimes facilitate tax avoidance. The Zuidas is teeming with them. Think of the metal concerns Norilsk Nickel and Rusal, the oil companies LUKoil and Bashneft, the ICT company Yandex and state enterprises such as Russian Railways, commercial bank VTB and Rosneft or Gazprom.
As far as is known, the Kremlin has no Dutch politicians on its payroll. Indirectly it does have lines to power. For example, via ex-minister Van Nieuwenhuizen, who has been chairman of Energie Nederland since October, an umbrella association of the most important energy companies on the Dutch market. In that position, the VVD politician must also defend the interests of Gazprom. Because Gazprom is – in addition to Shell, BP, Gulf, Eneco, Essent, Vattenfall – one of the members of Energie Nederland.
A detail? New. Gazprom, which owns 51 percent of Nord Stream 1 and all shares in Nord Stream 2, controls a third of the gas market in Europe and is therefore the greatest player† It is impossible to quantify how much influence Gazprom has on Energie Nederland and chairman Van Nieuwenhuizen. The association does not publish annual reports. The annual figures are secret. “This information is confidential”, director Sam Collot d’Escury of Energie Nederland informed me when I asked about Gazprom’s (financial) contribution.
Transparency is a word that, as is well known, is often used by people who have something to hide. But this lack of transparency on the part of Energie Nederland is the other extreme. In Russia they would know what to do with this kind of secrecy. Whoever pays orders the music, goes the saying there.
Unlike Russia, the Netherlands has no law on ‘foreign agents’ that obliges compatriots to register when they receive money from abroad. thank god. But if such a law were to exist, Van Nieuwenhuizen would also have to report immediately.
Hubert Smeets is a journalist and historian. He writes a column here every other week.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of February 10, 2022