Gerhard Schröder

Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (born 7 April 1944) is a German retired politician, lawyer, consultant and lobbyist, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005, during which his most important political initiative was Agenda 2010. As Chancellor, he led a coalition government of his Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Alliance 90/The Greens. From 1999 to 2004 he was the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Schröder has been chairman of Russian energy company Rosneft since 2017.

Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor he served as Minister President of Lower Saxony (1990–1998). Following the 2005 federal election, which his party lost, after three weeks of negotiations he stood down as Chancellor in favour of Angela Merkel of the rival Christian Democratic Union.