Biden, McCain, and a gas Pipeline bypassing Ukraine in 2014 Biden, McCain, and a gas Pipeline bypassing Ukraine in 2014 Researching Romania, Biden and Pipeline, uncovered details on the Russian South Stream gas pipeline from a related article with the picture: Armstrong Economics May 13, 2014 	 “The money starts to line the pockets. Yes, the Democrats who hate the rich in public, line their pockets just like everyone else. The youngest son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, has taken a position as head of legal affairs at Ukraine’s largest private gas producer Burisma Holdings. They announced on their website that Hunter Biden would join its board of directors and head the company’s legal unit. This is how influence is bought in Washington. You hire their family members who then become your direct lobbyist.” http://s3.amazonaws.com/armstrongeconomics-wp/2014/05/Biden-Son-Hunter.png The picture is from the US Global Leadership Coalition and USGLC awarded to Joe Biden Dec 13, 2013. USGLC includes foreign aid economic development with programs such as USAID. In May 2014, Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of Burisma Holdings, Ukraine without expertise.  Meanwhile Russia and Pres. Putin were finalizing agreements to route the South Stream natural gas pipeline to Bulgaria and Macedonia.  The pipeline would bypass the Ukraine and reduce Russian gas shipped across Ukraine in existing pipelines.  This could have impacted revenue for energy company Burisma Holdings. In June 2014, a month after H. Biden’s appointment, 3 US Senators visited Bulgaria and convinced the government to cancel the pipeline agreement.  This was partly due to the Russian annexation of Crimea in April 2014. The US Senators were C. Murphy, R. Johnson and [ McCain ].   On Dec 2, 2014, Ukraine appointed Natalie Jaresko as Ukrainian Minister of Finance and granted citizenship.  Her ex-husband was Ukrainian and she had worked as an investor banker and US State Dept in Ukraine and eastern Europe since the late 90s.  Currently she heads the Puerto Rico Financial Reform Board and member of Atlantic Council and Aspen Institute.  Though after the Biden appointment, she would have some influence on financial policies effecting Burmisa Holdngs (a major donor of Atlantic Council. Due to the pipeline route agreements being canceled, Pres. Putin announced the South Stream pipeline project was cancelled in Dec. 2014.  The pipeline timeline from Wikipedia is provided below with US politician’s activities added in brackets [ ]. Proposed Russian South Stream natural gas pipeline Proposed in 2007 traverse the Black Sea and Bulgaria to Macedonia, bypassing Ukraine and economic zone tariffs, viewed as competition to other existing gas pipelines Timeline: December 2011 Turkey issues territorial waters agreement December 2012 Slovenian and Bulgarian agreements July 2013 Macedonia agreement [ Dec 2013 VP Biden receives USGLC award – pic w/ H Biden, [McCain] ] April 2014 Russia annexed Crimea [ May 2014 Burisma Holdings appoint H Biden to board ] [ June 2014 Bulgaria pulls out of South Stream Pipeline agreement following a visit from US Senators –  Chris Murphy, Ron Johnson, and … [ John McCain ] ] December 2014 Russia cancels the South Stream pipeline project [ December 2014 Natalie Jaresko (US) became Ukrainian Minister of Finance ] Armstrong Economics May 13, 2014 	 https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/uncategorized/joe-bidens-son-joins-ukraine-gas-company/ US Global Leadership Coalition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Global_Leadership_Coalition Vice President Biden, Representatives Granger and Lowey Honored for Championing U.S. Global Leadership https://kaygranger.house.gov/press-release/vice-president-biden-representatives-granger-and-lowey-honored-championing-us-global South Stream [Russian Gas Pipeline Project] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Stream Excerpt May 22, 2018 https://www.rt.com/business/427403-russia-pipeline-bulgaria-senator/  The South Stream project was cancelled by Bulgaria following pressure from the European Union and the United States. The final decision to stop the project was announced in June 2014 by the Bulgarian authorities following the visit of US Senators John McCain, Chris Murphy and Ron Johnson. (additional sauce) Bulgaria halts Russia's South Stream gas pipeline project after visit by US senators RT News June 8, 2014 https://www.rt.com/business/164588-brussels-bulgaria-halts-south-stream/ Bulgaria’s prime minister, Plamen Oresharski, has ordered a halt to work on Russia’s South Stream pipeline, on the recommendation of the EU. The decision was announced after his talks with US senators. "At this time there is a request from the European Commission, after which we've suspended the current works, I ordered it," Oresharski told journalists after meeting with John McCain, Chris Murphy and Ron Johnson during their visit to Bulgaria on Sunday. "Further proceedings will be decided after additional consultations with Brussels." McCain, commenting on the situation, said that "Bulgaria should solve the South Stream problems in collaboration with European colleagues," adding that in the current situation they would want "less Russian involvement" in the project. "America has decided that it wants to put itself in a position where it excludes anybody it doesn't like from countries where it thinks it might have an interest, and there is no economic rationality in this at all. Europeans are very pragmatic, they are looking for cheap energy resources - clean energy resources, and Russia can supply that. But the thing with the South Stream is that it doesn't fit with the politics of the situation," Ben Aris, editor of Business New Europe told RT. Russia’s Energy Ministry said it had not yet received any official notification from Bulgaria on work on the project being suspended. Discussions on the matter between Russia and the EU could be held on Monday, June 9, during the planned trilateral consultations in Brussels involving Russia, the EU and Ukraine on Kiev's gas debt. Earlier Russia's Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov has told Itar-Tass agency that the EU commission has no reasons to demand suspension on the South Stream construction works, as there still is "benefit of the doubt" for the Bulgarian construction bidders. "I don't know all the details of the bidding process and what offers Russian-Bulgarian consortium had, but I'm sure it has all been made legally right. It's too serious a project," the diplomat said. Earlier this week, EU authorities ordered Bulgaria to suspend construction on its link of the pipeline, which is planned to transport Russian natural gas through the Black Sea to Bulgaria and onward to western Europe. Brussels wants the project frozen, pending a decision on whether it violates the EU competition regulations on a single energy market. It believes South Stream does not comply with the rules prohibiting energy producers from also controlling pipeline access. The EU is also asking for an investigation into how contracts were awarded for work on the pipeline in Bulgaria. Brussels sent the Bulgarian government a letter of formal notice asking for information, to which Sofia had one month to reply. Russia's energy giant Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline requires European approvals as its route would pass through the territory of several EU countries. In Bulgaria, the ruling Socialists support the South Stream project, while Movement for Rights and Freedom leader Lyutvi Mestan told parliament on June 5 that Bulgaria should defend its strategic interests "in cooperation, not in confrontation" with Europe. Earlier Serbia has said it has no plans to delay the start of construction of its leg of the South Stream pipeline, scheduled for July. Serbian Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic said that the position was not decisive: "I believe the European Commission and member states will find a solution because this is a European project in the best interests of energy security." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also said June 5 that the pipeline should be built, as there was no alternative to the project. (additional sauce) Bulgaria halts work on gas pipeline after US talks BBC News June 8 2014 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-27755032 Bulgaria is to halt work on its Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline following criticism from the EU and US. Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski announced that he had "ordered all work to be stopped". "We will decide on further developments following consultations with Brussels," he said after meeting with US senators. The Gazprom-financed pipeline would ship gas to western Europe via the Balkans, thus avoiding Ukraine. The European Commission had sent Bulgarian authorities a letter at the start of the month, asking them to suspend work on the project. The EC claimed Bulgaria may have broken EU public procurement laws by choosing local and Russian bidders. Bulgaria has previously said it is being targeted by Brussels as a means of retaliating against Russia over the situation in Ukraine. If built, the pipeline would deliver 63 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year, via Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia before entering Italy. Construction work on the pipeline began in Bulgaria in October 2013.