Etienne Schneider (Luxembourgish pronunciation: [ˈʃnɑɪdɐ]; born 29 January 1971) is a Luxembourgish politician and economist who served as First Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 2013 to 2020. He is a member of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP).

Etienne Schneider
11th First Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg
In office
4 December 2013 – 4 February 2020
Serving with Félix Braz (2018–20)
Prime MinisterXavier Bettel
Preceded byJean Asselborn
Succeeded byDan Kersch
Minister of Health
In office
5 December 2018 – 4 February 2020
Prime MinisterXavier Bettel
Preceded byLydia Mutsch
Succeeded byPaulette Lenert
Minister for the Economy and Foreign Trade
In office
1 February 2012 – 4 February 2020
Prime MinisterJean-Claude Juncker
Xavier Bettel
Preceded byJeannot Krecké
Succeeded byFranz Fayot
Minister for Defence
In office
4 December 2013 – 5 December 2018
Prime MinisterXavier Bettel
Preceded byJean-Marie Halsdorf
Succeeded byFrançois Bausch
Personal details
Born (1971-01-29) 29 January 1971 (age 53)
Dudelange, Luxembourg
Political partyLuxembourg Socialist Workers' Party
Spouse
Jérôme Domange
(m. 2016)
Alma materICHEC Brussels Management School
University of Greenwich

Schneider was a municipal councillor in Kayl from 1995 to 2005, and from 1997 to 2004, he was secretary general of the parliamentary group of the LSAP in Parliament.[1] He was elected first alderman of the municipality of Kayl in 2005, a mandate he held until May 2010.[1]

Schneider was appointed Minister for the Economy and Foreign Trade on 1 February 2012.[1] In the government formed following the 2013 general election, he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy. He continued to hold these offices following the 2018 general election, where he became the health minister as well. From 2013 to 2018, Schneider served as Minister for Defence. Following the 2018 general election, he became the first openly gay politician to be reelected for the office of deputy prime minister.

After stepping down as first deputy prime minister on 4 February 2020, Schneider entered the business world on the board of directors of both ArcelorMittal and the Vladimir Yevtushenkov and Yevgeny Novitsky associated Russian firm Sistema.

Early life edit

Born in Dudelange, Schneider completed his secondary schooling at the Lycée Technique d'Esch-sur-Alzette before studying at the ICHEC Brussels Management School and at the University of Greenwich in London where he graduated in business and finance in 1995.[1]

Political posts edit

In 1995, Schneider became a councilor in Kayl, a post he maintained until 2005, subsequently becoming first alderman until 2010.[1] In 1997, he was appointed secretary general of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) until he became chairman of the board of the electricity utility Cegedel, subsequently becoming chairman and Managing Director of the German energy company, Enovos [lb; de] (a grid company), the creation of which is also credited to him. Schneider was also a research assistant at the European Parliament in Brussels between 1995 and 1996. In the Kayl municipal elections in 2005 he was elected as first alderman of the municipality which post he occupied till May 2010. During 1997, he worked in Brussels as a project leader with NATO. In 2010, he also became chairman and managing director of Luxembourg's Société Nationale de Crédit et d'Investissement but resigned all his business appointments when he became Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade in February 2012,[1] replacing Jeannot Krecké. In this capacity he also co-chaired the Superior Committee for Research and Innovation. His tasks as minister involved private sector research and implementation of the bill of 5 June 2009 relating to assistance in the field of research.[2]

Following the legislative elections of 20 October 2013, Étienne Schneider was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy, Minister of Internal Security and Minister of Defence on 4 December 2013 in the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the LSAP and the Green Party (déi gréng).

After the legislative elections of 14 October 2018, Étienne Schneider was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy and Minister of Health on 5 December 2018 in the coalition government formed by the DP, the LSAP and déi gréng.[3]

As Minister of Economy Schneider has expressed his support for the space program currently taking place to mine near-Earth asteroids in a statement, also mentioning the environmental benefits for mining off Earth.[4]

He continued to hold these offices following the 2018 Luxembourg general election, where he became the health minister too. From 2013 to 2018, he served as Minister for Defence. Following the 2018 Luxembourg general election, he became the first openly gay politician to be reelected for the office of deputy minister.

Business career edit

On 4 February 2020, Schneider stepped down from his post as Minister of Economy and entered the business world receiving an appointment as a director at ArcelorMittal in June 2020 after Jeannot Krecké had resigned his position which Krecke held for ten years at ArcelorMittal.[5] On 30 April 2020 as the sole shareholder, Schneider established his first anonymous limited firm SA Beta Aquarii which is named after the brightest star in the constellation associated with Schneider's astrological sign Aquarius and is located on Boulevard de la Pétrusse in Luxembourg.[6] On 27 June 2020 following Jeannot Krecké's appointment to Sistema in May 2012, Schneider became an independent director of Sistema which controls East-West United Bank (Luxembourg).[7][8][9][a] Following the Russia invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both Schneider and Krecké severed their ties to Sistema and East-West United Bank (Luxembourg).[18][19]

Personal life edit

He is openly gay, and married his husband Jérôme Domange in 2016.[20][21]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ East-West United Bank (Luxembourg) was established on 12 June 1974 as a "daughter" bank of the Soviet Union's Central Bank (Gosbank) and, since 2005, has been part of Russia's VTB banking network. Through Sistema's subsidiary Moscow Bank for Reconstruction and Development (MDRB) (Russian: Московский банк реконструкции и развития «МБРР»), which was established in 1993 with Sistema as a shareholder since 1994, Sistema controlled a 49% stake in East-West United Bank (EWUB) in February 2005 and, in 2018, Sistema became 100% owner of EWUB with Sergei Pchelintsev (Russian: Сергей Алексеевич Пчелинцев) as the CEO.[10][11][12][13][14] Previously, from 1993–2000, Sergey Rodionov was chairman of the board of EWUB with 49% owned by Imperial bank.[15] From 2000 to 2005, all stocks of the Russian Foreign Banks were being purchased from the Bank of Russia by VTB Bank.[13][14] Andrey Kostin and Vladimir Stolyarenko were at Imperial bank from 1993 to 1998 when Stolyarenko transferred to Tokobank which held a 28% stake in East-West United Bank in 1998.[14][13] Imperial focused on oil and natural gas supplies to East Germany and later to Germany including the oil-for-pipes program.[16][17] EWUB is located at 10 boulevard Joseph II, Luxembourg.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Biography of Etienne Schneider". Gouvernement.lu. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Etienne Schneider appointed as new Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade". Erawatch. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Biography Etienne Schneider". Luxembourg Government. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Luxembourg, running out of Earth to mine, looks further afield". ABC News. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  5. ^ Raizer, Thierry (14 June 2020). "Étienne Schneider fait son entrée au CA d'ArcelorMittal" [Étienne Schneider joins the ArcelorMittal board of directors]. Paperjam (paperjam.lu) (in French). Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  6. ^ Léonard, Nicolas (13 May 2020). "Étienne Schneider a créé sa société anonyme" [Étienne Schneider created his public limited company]. Paperjam (paperjam.lu) (in French). Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Sistema Board Recommends to the AGM to elect three new Independent Directors". AFK Sistema. 31 May 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Les 45 ans d'East-West United Bank célébrés" [Celebrating 45 Years of East-West United Bank]. Paperjam (paperjam.lu) (in French). 19 September 2019. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Étienne Schneider élu administrateur chez Sistema" [Étienne Schneider elected director at Sistema]. Paperjam (paperjam.lu) (in French). 3 July 2020. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ^ "EWUB – история" [EWUB - history]. ewub.lu website (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Управляющие директора" [Managing directors]. ewub.lu website (in Russian). Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  12. ^ Колезев, Дмитрий (Kolezev, Dmitry) (9 June 2010). "В Екатеринбурге – новый почетный консул. Владелец АФК "Система" Владимир Евтушенков: Состояние - $7,5 млрд, хозяин мобильного оператора "МТС", муж сестры Елены Батуриной. Теперь он представляет Люксембург в Свердловской области" [A new honorary consul is in Yekaterinburg. Sistema JSFC owner Vladimir Evtushenkov: Fortune - $ 7.5 billion, the owner of the mobile operator MTS, the husband of Elena Baturina's sister. Now he represents Luxembourg in the Sverdlovsk region]. Ура.ру «URA.Ru» (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ a b c Бирман, Александр (Birman, Alexander) (21 February 2005). "В советских сетях: Нефтедоллары пойдут по проверенным каналам загранбанков" [In Soviet networks: Oil dollars will go through proven channels of foreign banks]. ООО Журнал «КО» (ko.ru) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 March 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Archived here at compromat.ru on 28 February 2005.
  14. ^ a b c ""Дочерние" российские зарубежные банки и сеть ВТБ: доли ЦБ, ВТБ и др"" [Russian Foreign "Daughter" Banks and the VTB Network: stakes held by Central Bank, VTB, others]. compromat.ru. February 2005. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ Овчинников, О. (Ovchinnikov, O.) (8 November 2000). "ЦБ - центральный Банд ..." [Central Bank - Central Gang ...]. Compromat.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 3 August 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ leptosis.org staff (February 2020). "Столяренко, Владимир Михайлович" [Stolyarenko, Vladimir Mikhailovich]. АНО «Экономическая летопись» (leptosis.org) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  17. ^ "25 лет Всемирной Истории с Банком Империал" [25 years of World History with Imperial Bank]. Information Agency InterRight (in Russian). 15 August 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Sodrugestvo: More people of influence linked to firms with Russian ties". RTL Today (today.rtl.lu). 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Former LSAP Ministers: Jeannot Krecké and Etienne Schneider step down from controversial board positions". RTL Today (today.rtl.lu). 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Luxembourg to become first country to have gay prime minister and gay deputy PM". PinkNews. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  21. ^ "Etienne Schneider: Luxembourg Deputy PM ties the knot". 2 November 2016. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2016.

External links edit

  • Biography at the Luxembourg government website
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for the Economy and Foreign Trade
2012–2020
Succeeded by