The secret of the shadow man was revealed to Gazprom in Schwerin
It seems that the main file related to the establishment of the MV Climate Foundation has disappeared
How big is Nord Stream 2 AG’s impact on Manuela Schweig and the SPD? A file from the state government in Schwerin could provide clarification. But it seems that it can not be found. “It either doesn’t really exist or it won’t be released to us,” says WELT reporter Alexej Hock.
The state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has used all means to prevent the name of the controversial Climate Foundation’s economic director from being revealed. After WELT AM SONNTAG applied to law enforcement, Schwerin has now retracted.
DrHis personal details were protected like state secrets: the managing director of “economic business operations” at the controversial Stiftung Klima- und Umweltschutz MV was supposed to complete the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 despite the threat of US sanctions. It is now clear who completed this task. He’s Hamburg’s management consultant Stephen Petersen. The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Department of Justice has now officially announced the 46-year-old’s name to WELT AM SONNTAG.
However, the revelation came after enormous pressure. The Schwerin Administrative Court had ordered the Ministry of Justice to name him in a decision. The ministry failed in its attempt to avoid this by using a legal trick before the Supreme Administrative Court. But only when this editorial office’s attorney filed for enforcement did things start to move. Apparently Justice Minister Jacqueline Bernhard (left) was afraid that the janitor would come to her home and fine her.
Stephen Petersen, the firm’s shadow man since February 2021, is a partner at Hamburg-based business consulting firm Cylad Consulting, which he has worked for since 2014. He previously worked for Boston Consulting Group, among others. As the secret managing director of The Climate Foundation, he managed millions of euros from Gazprom’s subsidiary Nord Stream 2 AG. He was involved when the corporation bought the private ship Blue Ship and acquired a 49 percent stake in Rostock-based MAR Agency GmbH.
Letter from the Ministry of Justice MV to WELT AM SONNTAG attorney
WELT AM SONNTAG had already received information mid this week that Petersen could be the man from the Climate Foundation for the Baltic Sea Pipeline. But Petersen did not want to talk to him on the phone, he left a written request unanswered.
So far, the Department of Justice has justified its dismissive stance, among other things, that the person is at risk of sanction by the United States if named. The law firm commissioned by the ministry argued before the court, “The potential implications are numerous and serious: from the Amazon order to the impossibility of paying with a Visa or PayPal card, it is conceivable that many serious damages to those affected by the signal can threaten.”
However, this argument did not convince many judges. The Supreme Administrative Court of Mecklenburg-Vorpommernia ruled that providing the information “does not constitute an unreasonable burden on the person concerned”.
The decision of the court goes on to say: “The activity of the Managing Director is not carried out in secret, but, on the contrary, is intended to appear externally in business life by stating his identity. Such a person must be reported to the Transparency Register by December 31, 2022.
Petersen was appointed to this position at the suggestion of Nord Stream 2 by the Foundation’s President, former Prime Minister Erwin Sellering (SPD). Like the Department of Justice, Sellering initially declined to share the name. Nothing changed when the District Court in Schwerin sentenced him to do so in the so-called hypothetical ruling on April 25. With this decision, the court responded to the complaint of WELT AM SONNTAG.
Now Sellering has suddenly gone to transparency. Shortly after the Department of Justice gave this editorial office Petersen’s name, he also released it publicly. In fact, several legal actions initiated by this editorial team are pending against Sellering for refusing to provide information and withholding files.
Similarly, the state government of Prime Minister and Successor Selling (SPD) is hostile to the press. Without recourse to legal aid, it is difficult to obtain the information that the public is entitled to. Next week, at the request of Jamaica’s opposition from the Christian Democratic Union, the Free Democratic Party and the Greens, the state parliament wants to set up a commission of inquiry into the Climate Foundation.
