Romania

Putala Strategies inks a $75K-per-month pact to bolster Romania’s ties with the US in the fields of defense, economic cooperation and energy security.

It's working on behalf of the Romanian-American Strategic Advancement Initiative, which is a coalition of three privately owned Romanian energy companies.

A key focus for Putala is furtherance of the Vertical Corridor Initiative that links Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine

VCI is emerging as a strategic route for transporting liquefied natural gas from Greece into southeastern and central Europe, including Ukraine, according to the US Energy Assn.

This route is an alternative to Russian gas, and opens access to Europe’s largest underground gas storage system, located in Ukraine.

A VCI terminal that opened in 2023 provides an entry port for US LNG into Europe.

Chris Putala, managing member of PS, served as a Judiciary Committee staffer when it was chaired by Joe Biden. He handles the Romanian business.

Matt Schlapp, chair of the American Conservative Union and political director in the George W. Bush White House, consults on the account

The contract went into effect on Nov. 22 and runs through April.