The Sparkasse bank in Hanover is blocking payments intended for former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Bild reports. According to the German publication, Schröder’s account at Sparkasse received about 200,000 euros every six months – a reward for his work as the board of directors of Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream-2 project. The funds were transferred from Luxembourg.
However, since the middle of 2024, the bank stopped accepting these transfers and sends them back to the sender. In a letter sent to Schröder by Hannover Sparkasse, it was stated that the bank did not want to fall under US sanctions because of these transfers. However, as Bild emphasises, the former German Chancellor is not on any sanctions list. Payments to Schröder began to block soon after the post of chairman of the board of directors of Hannover Sparkasse was taken by Belit Onay, who repeatedly criticised the former chancellor. In particular, in 2022, Onay, who holds the position of Oberbürgermeister of Hannover, wanted to strip Schröder of the title of honorary citizen of the city because of his ties to the Russian authorities.
Representatives of both Sparkasse Hannover and the bank’s chairman declined to comment.
