- Turkey presses US to allow weapons sale to Pakistan; Russian agency hires help to preserve uranium exports to US; Italian cheese guild lobbies on trade
Turkish defense industry hires ex-congressmen to unblock arms sales to Pakistan
A Turkish defense contractor has retained two lobbying firms to help unblock a US veto of a $1.5 billion arms sale to Pakistan.
Turkey signed a deal to sell Pakistan 30 helicopter gunships back in 2018. But Congress and the Donald Trump administration have put up obstacles to the sale because of lingering concerns with both its would-be allies.
Ex-lawmakers from both parties have been hired to smooth things over. Meanwhile Turkey is looking to replace the choppers’ US-made engines with indigenous models to get around export restrictions. And Pakistan is threatening to buy from China.
Read the story here.
Russian agency hires lobby firm to defend threatened uranium exports to US
Russia’s atomic energy agency has retained one of the biggest law firms in the country to push back against US calls to restrict uranium imports.
TENEX, the export arm of Russian nuclear power agency Rosatom, is caught in a fight with US domestic uranium producers who want to restrict foreign competition on national security grounds. Last month the US Commerce Department said an existing agreement dating back to 1992 may not be in the public interest.
Now TENEX is caught in a race against time to negotiate a new deal or risk prohibitive import duties. Read the story here.
Today’s filings
NEW FOREIGN LOBBYING FILINGS (FARA)
Norway: Two new people have registered to work on Waxman Strategies‘ contracts with US and foreign groups that receive grant funding from Norway. They are campaign director Philip Aikman and communications director Melia Armington Manter. Don’t miss our exclusive story on the Justice Department’s requirement that grant-funded NGOs register as foreign agents.
Syria: The Syrian Kurds’ first lobbying hire, which we first reported on Monday, has now been posted to the Justice Department’s FARA web site. Read our updated story here.
NEW DOMESTIC LOBBYING FILINGS (LDA)
Gibbons PC of Newark has renewed its work for Italy’s Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Pecorino Romano, the consortium that oversees and regulates all registered production of Pecornio Romano cheese. The firm had previously terminated its registration as of Jan. 1. Jason Redd and William Palatucci are registered to lobby on trade issues.