The White House brushed off questions about any ethical issues on appointing the vice-president's son, Hunter Biden, to a leading post at a Ukrainian gas company. The concerns come amid US attempts to affect Kiev’s energy policy.
Biden Jr. was appointed to board of directors of Burisma Holdings, Ukraine’s largest private gas producer on Tuesday.
Speaking about his new position, Hunter Biden said he will advise
on “transparency, corporate governance and responsibility,
international expansion and other priorities” to “contribute to
the economy and benefit the people of Ukraine.”
The decision immediately sparked questions if US actually
supported Biden’s promotion, as his father, US Vice-President Joe
Biden, has frequently spoken about the need to increase Ukraine's
energy independence, including during his recent visit to Kiev.
"Hunter Biden and other members of 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," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki also responded bluntly to
the questions, saying only that Hunter Biden is a private
citizen.
Joe Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff also said “the
vice-president does not endorse any particular company and has no
involvement with this company."
However, Curtis Ellis, executive director at American Jobs
Alliance, told RT that it is a typical Washington politics to
exploit a foreign crisis for personal gain.
“The US … are trying to portray in the most altruistic and
platonic fashion possible. However, it is very difficult to
disentangle business interests from national interests,” he
said.
Hunter Biden, 44, has a very impressive resume. A graduate of
Yale Law School, he serves on the Chairman’s Advisory Board for
the National Democratic Institute. He is also a director for the
Center for National Policy and the US Global Leadership
Coalition, which comprises 400 American businesses, NGOs, senior
national security and foreign policy experts.
Former US President Bill Clinton appointed him as Executive
Director of e-Commerce Policy and he was honorary co-chair of the
2008 Obama-Biden Inaugural Committee.
The licenses of Burisma Holdings, founded in 2002, cover
Ukraine’s three key hydrocarbon basins, including Dnieper-Donets
(in eastern Ukraine), Carpathian (western) and Azov-Kuban
(southern Ukraine).
The Biden board new appointment came just in time when Gazprom,
Russian gas giant, moved Ukraine to a prepaid gas delivery regime
and sent Naftogaz, Ukraine’s gas champion, a $1.66 billion bill
that is due June 2, or Moscow will halt supplies.
Gazprom is demanding that Kiev pays $485 per 1,000 cubic meters,
raised from $268.50 after Moscow was forced to cancel several
discounts. Kiev rejects the new price as “politically motivated”
and says it will only pay its debt if Gazprom lowers the price
back to the previous rate.
Meanwhile, the US may use the critical energy situation in the
country to promote its shale energy in Ukraine.