MUNICH (Reuters) - Gerhard Cromme, the powerful chairman of German industrial group Siemens (>> Siemens AG), will stay on until the end of his contract in 2018, he told shareholders at Siemens’ annual general meeting on Tuesday, a year after facing public calls to resign at the same event.

Cromme, 71, has been on Siemens' supervisory board since 2003, during which time he has seen off three chief executives – two of them since he became chairman.

Cromme, a former CEO of German steelmaker Krupp, was also the driving force behind the 1999 mega-merger of Thyssen and Krupp.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Louise Heavens)

Stocks treated in this article : AT&T Inc., Siemens AG