Overview
- Company and media sources say Gerhard Schröder was added to the Russian Hyperglobus supervisory board around September 30 and made a confirmed business visit to a Moscow Hyperglobus store on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
- Video and eyewitness reports show Schröder entering the store, giving a short greeting and receiving applause from employees, a visit the retail group publicly confirmed.
- Schröder denied that he traveled to Moscow for Vladimir Putin’s birthday and there is no public confirmation that he met Putin during the trip.
- Hyperglobus was spun off from Germany’s Globus group last year and recent Russian moves to increase control over foreign-owned assets have complicated governance and legal risks for Western firms operating in Russia.
- The visit revives domestic criticism over Schröder’s longstanding personal and business links to Russian state-linked firms, a debate that previously led the Bundestag to close his former chancellery office in May 2022 and could heighten reputational and political fallout in Germany.