On May 20, NewsCenter.ro asked the Presidential Administration about possible lobbying contracts following Jason Miller’s visit. One week later, the Presidency officially announced a lobbying contract in the United States. The value of the contract could reach up to $3.4 million. It is the largest direct lobbying contract ever concluded by a Romanian entity or individual with a firm in the United States.
The Presidential Administration officially confirmed on Monday that it had concluded a strategic consulting and lobbying contract in the United States with the American law firm Eversheds Sutherland, only a few days after NewsCenter.ro requested clarifications regarding possible lobbying discussions and economic interests following the visit of Republican consultant Jason Miller to Bucharest.
The Presidential Administration did not respond to us
Last week, on May 20, NewsCenter.ro sent the Presidential Administration a series of official questions regarding possible meetings between President Nicușor Dan and Jason Miller, a Republican political consultant who is also registered as a lobbyist. Miller was in Romania almost ten days ago. We also asked Cotroceni whether President Nicușor Dan had met with him again this month. Jason Miller told Antena 3 that he had met Nicușor Dan in January in Washington.
In short, NewsCenter.ro wanted to know whether President Nicușor Dan had met with Jason Miller, whether he was aware of lobbying activities in the energy and political sectors, and whether there was any interest in lobbying activities.
By the time this article was published, the Presidential Administration had not provided any response to the questions submitted by the publication.
A lobbying contract in the United States means hiring a firm with connections in Washington to facilitate access to the U.S. administration, Congress, and the political environment. The advantages include influencing strategic decisions, promoting Romania’s economic and military interests, attracting investments, and supporting energy or security projects.
But the Presidential Administration confirmed our information
In the meantime, however, the Romanian Presidency officially announced today, May 25, that it had signed a lobbying and strategic consulting contract in Washington.
According to the institution’s statement, the contract was concluded with Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP and aims to “deepen the strategic relationship with the United States of America.”
The Presidential Administration stated that the agreement seeks to strengthen relations in areas such as defense, security, energy, and advanced technologies. The contract has an initial duration of six months and may reach a maximum value of $565,000 per month, depending on the services provided and the deliverables supplied.
The announcement comes in a sensitive context, as Jason Miller’s visit to Bucharest generated numerous speculations regarding the influence of conservative circles close to Donald Trump on the new administration in Bucharest and on certain Romanian strategic projects.
The American firm Eversheds Sutherland is presented by the Presidential Administration as a company with experience in government relations and strategic consulting, with access to relevant political and administrative circles in Washington.
Lobbying for the Vertical Corridor Initiative
The lobbying contract signed by the Presidential Administration comes in the context of another lobbying contract signed by a group of three energy companies with two specialized firms, one of which is the same Eversheds Sutherland. It was in the context of this initial contract that Jason Miller traveled to Bucharest, according to information obtained by NewsCenter.ro.
The projects promoted by Jason Miller during his visit to Romania before Romanian officials were two.
The first: the pipeline through which the United States seeks to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Greece to Romania, Hungary, and Austria through the infrastructure known as the Vertical Corridor Initiative.
The second: the SMR small modular reactor nuclear power plant at Doicești, Dâmbovița County, a $5–6 billion project in which the American company NuScale Power is the technological partner of Nuclearelectrica. NewsCenter.ro has previously written about the geopolitical interests surrounding this project.
Jason Miller, source: X/Jason Miller
Jason Miller has not, at least so far, responded to our questions regarding the purpose of his visit to Romania. NewsCenter.ro asked him whether his trip to Bucharest was connected to promoting the Vertical Gas Corridor. We also asked which officials or company representatives he met with regarding this topic.
Miller’s interest in the Vertical Corridor project was nevertheless evident during the interview he gave to Mihai Gâdea. Asked, “How can we get into Donald Trump’s mind, so to speak, when we want to achieve our objectives?”, Jason Miller gave a clear answer.
“You need to present an agreement, a structure, a strategy that are very important right now, in the context of the Black Sea, Russia’s and Ukraine’s presence, reconstruction efforts, the Vertical Corridor, gas extracted from offshore deposits, the coastline where resorts can be built, agricultural land, and the mountains. All of this must be presented to the United States.”
The gas pipeline agreement is promoted through lobbying contracts by RASAI
Miller’s visit is not an isolated episode. It overlaps with a lobbying network methodically built since the end of last year, as demonstrated by public records from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) requires political consultants to register as lobbyists and disclose contracts if they promote foreign investments or other interests before American politicians in Washington.
The companies that form RASAI
In December 2025, two leading American firms simultaneously registered in the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) registry of the U.S. Department of Justice, declaring that they represented the same foreign principal: the Romanian-American Strategic Advancement Initiative (RASAI), registered in Sântana de Mureș, Mureș County, Romania.
The association includes the Romanian companies:
- CIZ Gaz SA (Sântana de Mureș)
- IRIGC Impex SRL (Bucharest)
- MVN Structural Consulting SRL (Bucharest)
The first contract, filed on December 12, 2025, was signed by Putala Strategies, LLC, a political lobbying firm based in Washington.
The agreement, which entered into force on November 22, 2025, provides for a fee of $75,000 per month covering the period November 2025–April 2026. Over five months, this amounts to $375,000.
The account manager is Christopher Putala, a former staff member of the Senate Judiciary Committee when it was chaired by Joe Biden. The external consultant assigned to the account is Matt Schlapp.
Putala Strategies receives a total of $150,000 per month:
- $75,000 from CIZ Gaz
- $50,000 from IRIGC Impex
- $25,000 from MVN
NewsCenter.ro contacted CIZ Gaz, but company representatives did not answer the questions submitted.
The second contract, filed on December 24, 2025, was signed by Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, one of the world’s top ten law firms, with offices in Washington, Atlanta, and Houston.
Eversheds Sutherland has a ceiling of $50,000 from a $600,000 account funded by the three Romanian companies. The remainder consists of payments to Putala.
In total, the contracts with Putala Strategies LLC and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, registered under FARA in December 2025, amount to approximately $1 million for the November 2025–April 2026 engagement period.
Miller’s connection to the lobbyist paid from Romania
Jason Miller, Trump’s adviser who visited Bucharest, is also a registered lobbyist through his own company, SHW Partners LLC. He has not registered any contract with a Romanian entity and has not declared that he is lobbying for projects in Romania.
And yet he came to Bucharest and promoted exactly the same projects that RASAI promotes in Washington through Putala and Eversheds.
The connection between Miller and the lobbying activities financed by RASAI through Putala Strategies exists at the level of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) network.
Matt Schlapp also works on the RASAI account at Putala Strategies. He is the president of the American Conservative Union and former White House political director during George W. Bush’s administration.
According to the Short Form personally signed by him on December 9, 2025, and filed with the DOJ, Schlapp receives $100,000 per month. Alongside him works Allison Putala, a communications consultant paid $2,500 per month.
In other words, of the $750,000 received by Putala Strategies, approximately $600,000 would have gone to Matt Schlapp.
Matt Schlapp’s name appears in the lobbying contracts
Matt Schlapp—listed as the consultant on the RASAI account at Putala Strategies—is a longtime ally of Jason Miller within the MAGA movement.
Both participated in CPAC Brazil in 2021, where Miller was detained at the airport upon departure. Both operate within the same international conservative circles, promoting Trump’s agenda to foreign partners.
In 2025, Schlapp was invited to a conference organized by the extremist party AUR, where the party’s leader, George Simion, introduced him as “a true friend.”
We remind readers that Miller has not answered any of the questions sent by NewsCenter.ro regarding the purpose of his visit to Romania.
The sworn declaration submitted by Putala Strategies’ representatives is clear:
“The Registrant will advise and represent the Romanian-American Strategic Advancement Initiative in its efforts to strengthen economic, security, and diplomatic relations between the United States and Romania, with an immediate focus on developing support for the Vertical Corridor Initiative in Central and Eastern Europe.”
The three discreet companies that make up RASAI
What is RASAI (Romanian-American Strategic Advancement Initiative)?
According to the sworn declaration of Christopher Putala filed under FARA document 7677, RASAI is:
“a coalition composed of three private Romanian energy companies.”
The three Romanian companies that signed the lobbying contracts are:
- CIS Gaz SA Sântana de Mureș (leader of the association)
- IRIGC Impex SRL Bucharest
- MVN Structural Consulting SRL Bucharest
On the other side are:
- Putala Strategies LLC
- Eversheds Sutherland
- consultant Matt Schlapp
CIS Gaz SA
CIS Gaz SA is a company based in Sântana de Mureș, established in 1991 and specialized in the construction of gas networks and other fluid infrastructure.
The company is 80% owned by CIS Capital Holding SRL and 20% by Horațiu-Sebastian Călugăr.
CIS Capital Holding SRL is owned by:
- Horațiu-Sebastian Călugăr (70%)
- Elena Călugăr (30%)
Its main activity consists of holding and managing participations.
The company also controls CIS Energy, CIS Gaz Servicii, and CIS Solar Engineering.
In 2024, CIS Gaz reported revenues of nearly 400 million lei and a profit of 48.5 million lei, with 204 employees.
The Călugăr family and the CIS Gaz group have strong ties to strategic energy and gas infrastructure projects, including contracts with state-owned companies and expansions into Egypt and the Republic of Moldova.
CIS Gaz is a family-owned company founded by Ioan Călugăr shortly after 1990 and has become one of Romania’s largest constructors of natural gas infrastructure.
The company has contracts with state-owned firms such as Conpet.
Conpet is the state-owned company that operates Romania’s National Transportation System for crude oil, gasoline, condensate, and ethane via pipelines and rail. It is headquartered in Ploiești and operates as a natural monopoly under the control of the Romanian state through the Ministry of Energy.
MVN Structural Consulting SRL
MVN Structural Consulting SRL is a Bucharest-based company established in 2008, specializing in business and management consulting, market studies, and surveys.
The company is fully owned by Viorel Nicolescu, while Roxana Doina Dragu serves as administrator.
In 2024, the company reported revenues of nearly 2 million lei and a profit of 1.24 million lei, with only two employees.
IRIGC Impex SRL
IRIGC Impex SRL is a Bucharest company founded in 1992 and specialized in construction works for utility networks and gas infrastructure projects.
The company is owned and managed by Traian Popa, who is also involved in Anisy Construct and Dinamic Tours.
In 2024, IRIGC reported revenues of 119 million lei and a profit of 16.2 million lei, with 209 employees and ten offices across Romania.
The address in Sântana de Mureș corresponds to the headquarters of CIS Gaz, a private family-owned company founded in 1990 and specialized in the construction and rehabilitation of pipelines, with clients such as Transgaz, OMV Petrom, and Strabag.
The other two companies in the coalition are not explicitly mentioned in the public FARA documents.
President Nicușor Dan also supports the Vertical Corridor
Romania has embraced the Vertical Corridor agenda at the highest level.
On April 29, during the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Nicușor Dan stated:
“It is in all our interests to decouple from Russian gas supplies; it is in America’s interest to enter the European market with LNG. (…) We want an American presence in Romania, and we want this economic configuration to be favorable to Romania.”
He added:
“It is America’s interest to enter the European market with LNG. We want an American presence in Romania, and we want this economic configuration to be favorable to Romania.”
The Vertical Gas Corridor
The Vertical Corridor is, in short, a regional system of pipelines and interconnections linking liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Greece—particularly the Alexandroupolis terminal—to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine.
The strategic goal of the project is to reduce Central and Eastern Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and replace it with gas imported from the United States, Qatar, and other LNG sources.
Romania occupies a key position in this corridor, and Transgaz participates in the project through the expansion of domestic infrastructure and transport capacity toward Hungary and the Republic of Moldova.
In Romania, investments worth hundreds of millions of euros are required to modernize and expand segments of the National Gas Transmission System, including increasing south-to-north capacity and strengthening regional interconnections.
