Austria’s former foreign minister who danced with President Vladimir Putin at her wedding has been nominated for a seat on oil giant Rosneft’s board of directors, a government decree said Wednesday.
In 2018, Karin Kneissl, then Austria’s foreign minister, made headlines when she invited Putin to her wedding and danced with him. The 56-year-old left the government the following year.
Kneissl has been nominated to the Rosneft board as an independent director, said a government decree released on Wednesday.
If Rosneft’s shareholders approve her nomination, she will join former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has served as board chairman since 2017.
Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer, is headed by Igor Sechin, one of Putin’s most loyal allies.
In recent years, Austria has emphasised close ties with Russia.
After a number of EU countries in 2018 expelled Russian diplomats over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK, Austria said it would not follow, stressing its neutrality.
