2008 annual report - US Trade and Development Agency

Europe and Eurasia:
Fostering energy security by supporting new energy
resource development and new transport options
was USTDA’s focus in Europe and Eurasia during
FY 2008.
Currently, European countries
rely on a single supplier for the
vast majority of their natural gas,
creating market distortions and
political and economic vulnerabilities.
To encourage diversification,
USTDA funded investment analysis
on liquefied natural gas (LNG)
import terminals in Lithuania
and Romania. The terminals will
enable these countries to import
natural gas from multiple sources,
buttressing supplies and enhancing
competition in natural gas
markets worldwide.
The construction of LNG import
terminals in Lithuania and Romania
will also provide Caspian region
natural gas producers with an
additional export route. Already,
USTDA has funded a feasibility
study on the construction
of oil and gas pipelines to bring
Central Asian resources across
the Caspian Sea to Europe through
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.
To reinforce Azerbaijan’s role as
an energy transit country, the
Agency provided training to Azeri
government officials in how to
establish international natural gas
transit agreements.
To further the Agency’s focus on
energy resources in the region,
USTDA sponsored a training
18 U.S. Trade and Development Agency
program for Turkmen oil and gas
sector officials to familiarize them
with international best practices
in the licensing of onshore and
offshore hydrocarbon resources.
The training is expected to result
in production sharing agreements
with U.S. oil and gas companies,
whose experience and expertise
will facilitate the development of
new resources. USTDA also funded
a feasibility study that will examine
the potential to produce energy
from coal bed and coal mine methane
in Georgia, thereby helping
that country reduce its dependence
on natural gas imports and produce
clean energy.
Beyond energy security, USTDA
continued to promote regional integration
in South and Central Asia
via key infrastructure initiatives in
the electric power, telecommunications,
and transportation sectors.
Following-up on a USTDA-funded
regional power conference held two
years ago, the Agency financed a
program to support a new coalfired
power plant in Tajikistan. The
plant would underpin the development
of an energy corridor, bringing
surplus electricity from Central Asia
to meet shortages in Afghanistan
and Pakistan. Progress is also being
made in establishing a regional fiber
optic line, which was agreed upon
at the regional telecommunications
policy conference that USTDA
funded last year.
Civil aviation was another focal
point for USTDA in Europe and
Eurasia. In Latvia, USTDA funded a
study on ways to improve air traffic
safety while increasing the efficient
use of Latvian airspace. The Agency
also invited Polish and Ukrainian
aviation officials to the United
States to showcase leading U.S.
technologies as these countries
prepare to upgrade their airports
in advance of the 2012 European
Football Championships.
In the area of ICT, USTDA
continued to promote emergency
management projects through
grants for the evaluation of an
integrated municipal emergency
management system in Gdansk,
Poland, and a “next generation
network” emergency management
system in Romania. Additionally,
USTDA invited officials from
Turkmenistan and Turkey to visit
the United States and explore new
opportunities for collaboration with
ICT firms.
Overall, the Agency continued
to apply its targeted and resultsoriented
program of assistance
in ways that advance U.S. foreign
policy priorities in Europe and
Eurasia, while also supporting
sustainable development objectives
and identifying commercial
opportunities for U.S. firms.