US Signs Billion-Dollar Energy and AI Investment Deals with Balkan Countries
Major US Investments Strengthen Energy and AI Sectors in the Balkans
US Expands Energy Presence in Southern Europe
DUBROVNIK, Croatia, April 28 (Reuters) - The United States and U.S. companies signed deals worth billions of dollars with Balkan countries on Tuesday, boosting Washington's energy presence in the region and backing AI development.
The U.S. is seeking to deepen ties and counter the influence of Russian oil and gas in southern Europe, having signed a long-term deal last year to export liquefied natural gas to Greece.
"President Trump is opening a new era of cooperation with southern, and central and eastern Europe," U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters at the Three Seas Initiative business forum in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Key Energy Agreements and Regional Impact
LNG Export Deal with Albania
In Tirana, U.S. ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle signed a $6 billion, 20-year agreement between Venture Global and Aktor LNG USA to export LNG to Albania.
"This commitment strengthens energy security - and national security - across the entire region," Guilfoyle said on X.
Pipeline Project Linking Croatia and Bosnia
The deal came as Wright confirmed U.S. backing for an agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to build a gas pipeline carrying U.S. natural gas from an LNG terminal on the Croatian island of Krk to Bosnia.
The project, which aims to diversify Bosnia's energy supplies and reduce its reliance on Russian gas, will be financed and led by U.S. company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy LLC. The company is run by Jesse Binnall, a former Trump lawyer, and Joseph Flynn, the brother of Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
AAFS has said it would invest about 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in the project.
Civilian Nuclear Energy Cooperation
Croatia and the U.S. also issued a joint statement on cooperation in civilian nuclear energy.
AI Development and Data Center Investment
Landmark AI Project in Central Croatia
Separately, Croatian engineering company Rade Koncar and U.S.-based investment group Pantheon Atlas LLC signed a letter of intent to participate in an AI development and data centre project in central Croatia, estimated to be worth 50 billion euros.
Project Details and Timeline
The plans envisage a facility with 1 gigawatt of power capacity for AI computing and cloud services, with construction tentatively due to start in 2027 and operations by 2029, subject to permits and grid upgrades.
(Reporting by Antonio Bronic in Dubrovnik, Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade and Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo. Writing by Edward McAllister. Edited by Mark Potter)
