At a groundbreaking ceremony about 250 miles north of Moscow, Alexei Miller, the chief executive of Gazprom, the Russian energy giant that holds a majority stake in the pipeline partnership, said the Schroeder-led board would be involved in "reaching all strategic decisions on all areas of the company's activity."

In September, Schroeder and Putin signed an agreement on behalf of their countries to build the $4.7 billion pipeline. Ten days later the German leader and his party lost an election, leading to his resignation last month. He resigned his seat in Parliament as well, and the German political world has been speculating about his future ever since.

Schroeder did not attend the groundbreaking ceremony, held in the Vologda region. His office in Berlin confirmed the announcement and said he was "very pleased" to take the job. It offered no other comment.