Overview
- Schröder was appointed to the supervisory board of Hyperglobus late last month and visited a Moscow Hyperglobus/Globus supermarket on Wednesday as part of that new role.
- The company and owner Thomas Bruch say Schröder will help guide the chain’s strategic development in Russia and that his experience can support a dialog-based approach to operating there.
- The Kremlin said Schröder attended Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday in Moscow, a claim Schröder has denied, leaving divergent official accounts of his precise purpose in the capital.
- Video and TV footage show Schröder giving a short speech, being greeted with applause by staff, touring the store with his wife, and a reporter accidentally breaking bottles during the media walk-through.
- Hyperglobus’s Russian arm was spun off from Germany’s Globus Holding in 2025 to operate independently, and Schröder’s appointment has renewed debate in Germany over his long-standing ties to Russia and the risks faced by foreign firms there.