Moscow - Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was appointed to the board of Russian-British joint oil venture TNK-BP as one of three independent directors named to help ease shareholder tensions, BP said in a statement Thursday.

Alongside Schroeder, the chairman designate of mining giant Rio Tinto James Lang and president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin will form part of the restructured board, BP said.

Schroeder, 64, now heads the board of directors of the Nord Stream pipeline consortium to carry Russian gas under the Baltic Sea direct to Germany.

The billion-dollar pipeline project has gained impetus as Europe faces a second week starved of Russian gas supplies amid a dispute between Moscow and Kiev.

Germany purchases 37 per cent of its natural gas needs from Russia, the majority of which travels through Ukrainian pipelines.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward acclaimed Schroeder's as "a distinguished statesman, who brings both enormous geopolitical experience and a history of strong relationships with Russia," the company statement said.

TNK and Britain's BP, partners in the in the 50-50 venture were caught in a public and protracted dispute last year over management and control of Russia's third-largest oil firm.

Under a deal agreed by both parties in December, TNK-BP's controversial chief executive Robert Dudley stepped down and left Russia after alleged harassment by Russian shareholders.

The shareholder row and a series of legal troubles in recent months fed speculation that TNK-BP was being targeted for takeover by a state-owned firm, and shook foreign investor confidence. (dpa)