Day: October 24, 2025
According to Reuters, American businessman Steve Nikandros, who has business interests in Georgia, has in recent weeks personally urged US lawmakers not to approve the MEGOBARI Act. The bill proposes sanctions against members of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The agency adds that Nikandros’s lobbying on behalf of Georgia’s anti-Western government has irritated Republican Congressman Joe Wilson.
“A bipartisan group is trying to pass a bill aimed at punishing the increasingly authoritarian and pro-Moscow government in Tbilisi. The legislation, initiated by Wilson, would bar US authorities from officially recognizing the Georgian government.
Steve Nikandros, CEO of Texas energy company TXN Energy, sent a letter to some Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, thanking them for opposing the bill,” Reuters reports.
The agency reviewed the letter dated 30 September, in which Nikandros urges Congress members to take additional steps to block the final approval of the initiative. After committee consideration, the bill now awaits a vote on the full House floor.
In the letter, Nikandros argues that the Georgian Dream party was democratically elected and warns that passing the bill would push Georgia closer to Russia, harming American business interests, including his own company, which has operated in Georgia since 1997.
“For companies like ours, which employ people and invest in Georgia, stable bilateral relations are critically important,” the letter states.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s ambassador to the US, Tamar Taliashvili, said that while Nikandros is an “innovator,” the Georgian government itself has no lobbying ties in the United States.
Notably, according to Open Secrets, Steve Nikandros has donated more than $200,000 to Republican congressmen and affiliated political committees and organizations.
Earlier, Nikandros served as CEO of the American energy company Frontera, which since 1997—during Eduard Shevardnadze’s presidency—owned the XII licensing block in Kakheti, where it conducted oil exploration and extraction.
Reuters also highlights that following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, trade between Russia and Georgia grew significantly, with Georgia becoming one of the key channels for Russian exports. The agency notes that the US has frequently criticised Georgian Dream for self-isolation and for strengthening ties with Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing.
Background
On 6 May 2025, the US House of Representatives voted to pass the MEGOBARI Act, a bill that envisions sanctions against members of the Georgian government and other individuals deemed a threat to the country’s stability, security and democracy. The act also calls for a comprehensive reassessment of US–Georgia relations, including all aid programmes.
On 6 September, The Hill, citing its sources, reported that at the end of August, Senator Markwayne Mullin successfully persuaded Senate Majority Leader John Thune to remove the MEGOBARI Act from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) package. Earlier this year, Mullin had also blocked a request for the bill’s expedited passage.
The publication notes that Mullin’s stance appears unusual, as in 2020 he had sharply criticised the Georgian Dream government for aligning itself with what he called “America’s hostile rivals and enemies”, arguing that this made it increasingly difficult and dangerous for US companies to operate in the country.
Businessman backs Georgian Dream
Categories
Трамп идет на третий срок
Steve Nicandros, co-founder of the Texas-based oil company Frontera Resources, has lobbied against a bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Joe Wilson that would prohibit the U.S. government from recognizing the Georgian Dream government, Reuters reported.
The international news agency presumably referred to the Georgian Dream non-recognition bill, which was amended in mid-September by the House Foreign Affairs Committee for inclusion in the U.S. State Department Authorization Act. Reuters itself wrote that the bill “is awaiting a floor vote after clearing the committee.”
The news agency said it had seen a letter dated September 30 from Nicandros to “some Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee thanking them for opposing that measure.”
“In his letter, Nicandros, the chief executive of energy firm TXN Energy, argued that Georgian Dream was democratically elected, and that such a measure could push Georgia further into Russia’s orbit and harm U.S. business interests, including his own,” Reuters wrote, citing the letter as saying, “For companies like ours that employ people and invest in Georgia, stable bilateral relations are critical.” Reuters also said Rep. Wilson “was concerned by Nicandros’ efforts to thwart the bill.”
Nicandros did not respond to Reuters’ emailed questions. Georgia’s ambassador to the United States, Tamar Taliashvili, said that while Nicandros is a “trailblazer,” the Georgian government has no lobbying affiliations in the U.S.
“Concerning Mr. Steven Nicandros – he is an American businessman, widely recognized as one of the earliest trailblazers to introduce well-established U.S. enterprise to the South Caucasian region in the wake of Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union,” Taliashvili told Reuters, claiming that while bilateral relations between Georgia and the U.S. deteriorated under Biden, they could improve under Trump, as Georgian Dream awaits the President to “break his silence” towards Georgia.
Citing OpenSecrets, a website that tracks campaign finance data, Reuters also said that Nicandros has donated more than USD 200,000 to Republican lawmakers and congressional committees but could not determine whether those donations influenced lawmakers’ votes.
Frontera Resources
Steve Nicandros is a co-founder of the Texas-based oil company Frontera Resources, which has operated in Georgia since 1997 and was involved in a legal dispute with the Georgian government about four years ago. The dispute concerned a contract with Georgia’s Ministry of Economy over oil and gas exploration rights.
In 2020, an international arbitration tribunal ruled on the case, though the details and outcome remain confidential. The Georgian government said at the time that the tribunal had found a material breach of contract by Frontera, giving it the right to terminate the agreement.
Despite the ruling, the government decided not to terminate the contract, citing the need to preserve Georgia’s reputation as a reliable investment destination and to maintain strong strategic ties with the United States.
Frontera reportedly still owes $15.4 million to the Georgian authorities under a court ruling, according to RFE/RL’s Georgian Service.
GD Lobbyists?
The U.S. Congress is also considering another Georgia-related measure, the MEGOBARI Act, which envisions broader sanctions on Georgian Dream officials over corruption, democratic backsliding, and ties with U.S. adversaries. The bill, approved by the House in July, is currently awaiting Senate consideration.
The Hill reported in September that Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma has emerged as one of the main obstacles to the act’s passage.
Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen lamented the bill’s lack of progress despite broad bipartisan support. “It’s amazing that it’s happened, and why it’s happened, I do not understand,” he said of the bill’s fate.
Also Read:
- 11/09/2025 – U.S. Helsinki Commission Holds Hearing on Georgia’s “Anti-American Turn”
- 09/01/2025 – “Georgian Nightmare Non-Recognition Act” Introduced in U.S. Congress
- 24/07/2020 – Frontera Accuses Georgian Gov’t of “Disinformation Campaign”
- 07/05/2020 – Georgia’s Oil Corp Accuses Frontera Resources of ‘Distorting Int’l Arbitration Court’s Ruling’