Burisma Holdings

Burisma Holdings
Private
Industry Oil and gas
Founded 2002
Founder Mykola Zlochevsky
Headquarters Limassol, Cyprus
Key people
 Alan Apter (Non-executive chairman), Aleksander Kwaśniewski (Independent director), Hunter Biden (Independent director)
Website http://burisma-group.com/

Burisma Group is an energy exploration and production company operating in the Ukrainian oil and gas market since 2002. The head office is in Limassol, Cyprus.[1]

History

Burisma Group was founded in 2002 by Ukrainian businessman Mykola Zlochevskyi and Nikolay Lysin. Now it is owned by Zlochevskyi.


Burisma Ukraine

Burisma Group is the leading private natural gas producer operating in Ukraine. Offering a wide range of services, company is the first and only fully integrated gas operator in Ukraine engaged in the exploration, production, processing, transportation, and final sale of hydrocarbons. The company holds 35 licenses for hydrocarbon production in all main oil and gas basins of Ukraine, including Dnieper-Donets and Carpathian. The fields are connected to nearby gas pipelines. 87% of EBITDA is generated in the Dnieper-Donets basin. 91% of Burisma Groups' production volume comes from the Dnieper-Donets basin, which contains 82% of the natural gas reserves in Ukraine. The company has a 30% share among independent domestic oil and gas producers.

EXPLORATION The Group uses innovative seismic equipment to carry out efficient exploration without negative impact on the environment. The fleet has 40,000 channels and 30 fully equipped seismic vibrators for geological research.

PRODUCTION Burisma Group operates the largest drilling fleet in the country, including 20 machines of various modifications and capacities. The SK 3000 drilling rig with a lifting capacity of 680 metric tons is among them. This is the most powerful machine tool in Ukraine and the CIS. Our technology allows drilling wells up to 10,000 meters deep. The latest equipment makes it possible to achieve the best performance in the industry as only 23 days are required to drill a 2,900-meter deep well, including mounting and dismantling.

SERVICE Burisma Group performs well repair works, provides services of hydraulic fracturing (fracturing), and offers integrated infrastructure solutions for private and public enterprises in the oil and gas sector. Burisma Group operates the largest hydraulic fracturing fleet in the country consisting of 15 pumps with a total capacity of 35,000 horsepower.


Board of directors

Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of the Republic of Poland, was appointed to the board in January 2014.[2]

A number of non-Ukrainian directors were appointed in 2014, including Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of the Republic of Poland, appointed in January 2014.[2]

On 18 April 2014, Burisma Holdings announced Hunter Biden's appointment to the board. On their website, Biden wrote that he believed Burisma was important to the economy of Ukraine and that he would be "consulting the company on matters of transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities”.[3] He became an acting member of the board of directors on 12 May 2014.[4] In February 2016, Joseph Cofer Black, the Director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center (CTC) (1999-2002) in the George W. Bush administration and Ambassador at Large for counter-terrorism (2002-2004) joined Burisma’s Board of Directors.[5]

Press reaction

After the appointments were announced, press articles raised concerns about Biden's potential conflicts with US government positions.[6][7] CNN stated that "The [Biden] appointment caused a stir, given that it occurred around the same time that his father and the White House were engaged in diplomatic missions in the region to wean Ukraine off Russian energy sources. Critics argued that Hunter's work for a country promoting Ukrainian energy independence was a blatant conflict of interest."[8]

Biden traveled to Kiev on 22 April 2014 and urged the Ukraine government "... to reduce its dependence on Russia for supplies of natural gas".[9]

The White House dismissed nepotism charges against Biden,[6][7] and Press Secretary Jay Carney stated that "the Biden family are obviously private citizens, and where they work does not reflect an endorsement by the administration or by the vice president or president," a comment that was supported by Michael Sawkiw of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.[10]

Morgan Williams, director of the US-Ukraine Business Council, discerned a conflict, though he had seen no direct evidence of one. He argued it was a problem of appearance, as there was an "unspoken" American tradition that "frowns" on "close family members of government working for organizations with business links to active politics."[10] At the same time, Melanie Sloan, Executive Director for the non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) stated that “unless there is solid evidence that Hunter Biden got his job to influence American foreign policy, there’s no clear line that has been crossed”.[11]

International Forum on Energy Security for the Future

Energy Security for the Future (ESF) is the leading international forum where energy independence for Europe and Ukraine’s place in the European system of collective security are discussed. The goal of ESF is to unite statesmen, politicians, leading experts, and businessmen and journalists and civil society leaders around the idea of energy security, renewable energy sources and efficient energy technologies aimed at contributing to the development of new European policies in the energy security system. For three years, the ESF has initiated a dialogue between opinion leaders from Ukraine, the EU, and the U.S. on the future of our countries, becoming the preeminent institution for ‘‘green diplomacy’’ on the European continent.

ESF was founded in January 2016 by the president of the Burisma Group, Nikolay Zlochevskyi, who invited European leaders and parliamentarians to gather together to discuss Europe’s energy strategy. The venue for the first Forum was chosen to be the Principality of Monaco, a country that has always been associated with environmental innovation, vision, and leadership and which has since become the birthplace of a new global movement to replace traditional energy with renewable sources. Prince Albert II of Monaco (Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation) and the Foundation of the former President of Poland Alexander Kwasniewski (1995–2005), became the first partners of the ESF. The first of what would become an annual forum called ‘‘Energy Security for the Future: new sources, responsibility, sustainability’’ was held on 2 June 2016 at the Yacht Club de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco, drawing more than 150 participants from across Europe. Among them were presidents, parliamentarians, and European commissioners.

In 2017, the British professional team Adam Smith Conferences became official partners of the Forum, transforming event into a truly global conference. The topic of the 2017 Forum was chosen as ‘‘Energy Security for the Future: new vision, strategy, innovation’’ and the format’s international status was strengthened by the participation of new countries, including China and the United States, which sent official government delegations. More than 250 people took part in the work of the second Forum.[12]

In 2018, the topic of the Forum was chosen as ‘‘Energy Security for the Future: revolutionary thinking.’’ The event will retain its strong international status, with the number of official delegations and participants increasing to over 400 attendees. With each passing year, more people and organizations choose to partner and participate in the Forum and we are proud to continue to serve as the convener of this important platform to discuss the future of energy security. The event was informally called the "Forum of Presidents", as it brought together European leaders, including His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, President of Latvia Mr Raymonds Vejonis, President of Poland (1995–2005) Mr Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of the European Commission and the Prime Minister of Italy Mr Romano Prodi, President of the European Council and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Mr Mirek Topolanek.[13] The list of panelists included the U.K. Parliamentarian and the leader of the U.K. delegation to OSCE Mark Pritchard, the U.S. politician and former U.S. Senator for Louisiana Ms Mary Landrieu, the European Commissioner for Energy and Development (2004–2014) Mr Andris Piebalgs, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center Mr John Herbst.

References

  1. ↑ Bloomberg Business.
  2. 1 2 (in Ukrainian) Former President of Poland also has a position in the oil and gas holding deputy Kliuiev, Ukrayinska Pravda (14 May 2014)
  3. ↑ Biden’s Son, Polish Ex-President Quietly Sign On To Ukrainian Gas Company, Buzzfeed, 14 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Executive profile: Robert Hunter Biden Bloomberg BusinessWeek, New York, NY: Bloomberg L.P., Undated.
  5. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/former-cia-director-joins-burisma-and-it-is-good-news_us_58adf600e4b01f4ab51c75a4
  6. 1 2 Hunter Biden’s new job at a Ukrainian gas company is a problem for U.S. soft power, The Washington Post, 14 May 2014
  7. 1 2 White House nixes Biden son 'nepotism charge', China Daily, 14 May 2014
  8. ↑ Peligri, Justin (17 October 2014). "Who is Hunter Biden?". CNN. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Biden Offers Strong Support to Ukraine and Issues a Sharp Rebuke to Russia, The New York Times, 22. April 2014
  10. 1 2 "Muted response to Biden son's Ukraine job". Deutsche Welle. dw.de. 2 August 1997. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Braun, Stephanie (17 October 2014). "Ukrainian energy firm hires Biden's son as lawyer". The Washington Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  12. ↑ http://112.international/finance/global-leaders-to-convene-at-second-energy-security-forum-in-monaco-17587.html
  13. ↑ http://burisma-group.com/eng/news/hsh-prince-albert-ii-of-monaco-and-burisma-group-president-nikolay-zlochevskyi-co-host-third-annual-monaco-energy-security-forum/
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