Filenews 7 September 2025 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
One of the key aspects being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office for the EuroAsia Interconnector is the allegations made before it regarding consultancy and other services allegedly provided to EuroAsia by former German Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
We emphasize that this aspect of the case is under investigation, in order to clarify its relationship with reality.
What will be investigated is the correctness or not of the allegation made to the Cypriot authorities and the European Public Prosecutor's Office that Mr. Oettinger, after his departure from senior positions in the European Commission, collaborated with his company EuroAsia Interconnector as a consultant or was employed by it. For this purpose, testimonies stated to exist from natural persons and audiovisual material will be evaluated.
Obviously, the reason for the investigation is related to the positions from which Mr. Oettinger served in the European Commission, which were directly related to energy issues but also to issues of the EU budget, from which EuroAsia was funded, both for the studies he requested to do in the period up to 2022, and for the construction projects, for which it received €658 million, the largest EU grant for such projects.
According to Google search results, Günther Oettinger:
- From 2005 to 2010 he served as Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg and was also president of the Christian Democratic CDU in the same region.
- From 2010 – 2014 he was Commissioner for Energy (2010–2014) at the European Commission. He managed critical issues such as energy security and distancing himself from Russian gas.
- From 2014-2016 he was Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society (2014-2016).
- In 2017-2019 he was Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources (2017-2019).
According to the Google search, Mr. Oettinger, after leaving the Commission in 2019, founded the company "Oettinger Consulting", acting as a consultant on business and political issues. In addition, he has taken on advisory and supervisory roles in many organizations, such as Herrenknecht AG, Amundi Deutschland, Donner & Reuschel, HAM-LOG and others. Since 2021, he has also been president of the private German school EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht. In 2024, he told Google, he took on a role as an independent consultant for the Chinese fast fashion company Shein, on topics such as data management, cybersecurity and geopolitical relations, but was not considered a lobbyist or employee of the company.
The information of the Liberal states that through the Cypriot authorities an allegation has reached the European Public Prosecutor's Office that Mr. Oettinger, after his retirement and departure from the position of EU Commissioner, collaborated among other companies with EuroAsia Interconnector or the Cypriot company Quantum.
What the information indicates that it will be investigated is whether or not Günther Oettinger contributed to decisions of the European Commission and its competent directorates regarding the financing of the EuroAsia Interconnector for the studies that had to be carried out by it, before its request for mammoth funding of 658 million euros was finally approved. euro.
In addition, it will be investigated, as Fileleftheros is informed, whether the sums allocated to EuroAsia from the European budget for studies (about €17-18 million) were actually spent on studies.
