Matthias Warnig, German chief executive of Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 AG, is stepping down, the company said..

According to the company, in the future, the activities of Nord Stream 2 AG will be handled by a steering committee led by the administrator of Transliq AG.

“Nord Stream 2 witnesses and sincerely appreciates the outstanding leadership and invaluable contribution of Matthias Warnig during the long and difficult journey of creating a large cross-border energy supply infrastructure and wishes him success in all his future endeavors,” says Nord Stream 2 AG in a comment..

Matthias Warnig, 67, is reportedly a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin since his KGB days in the GDR.. Warnig, in turn, has been spying for the East German Stasi secret police since 1974.. After Putin was elected president, he held senior positions in Russian state-owned companies.

In 2012, Putin awarded him the " Warnig also has an apartment in Moscow..

Matthias Warnig visited Moscow and met Putin shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Nord Stream 2 AG is the operator of the now defunct gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.

Due to Russian aggression in Ukraine - in particular, Putin's recognition of self-proclaimed separatist creations on the eve of a full-scale invasion - the German authorities stopped the process of certification of the gas pipeline, and the United States added the project company Nord Stream 2 AG and Warnig himself to the list of sanctions. He is also on the UK sanctions list as a friend of Putin..