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Obie Moore/caption
Obie Luschin Moore was born on December 3 1954 in Austin Texas. He graduated the University of Oklahoma (degrees in business 1978 and law 1980). Mr. Moore is a highly recognized global energy and private equity transaction leader.
Mr. Moore was a Bar Member of Law Society of England and Wales and Bucharest Romania Bar Associations (2008). He founded OLM Advisors LLC a Geneva-based multi-disciplinary consulting firm which focuses on European and Transatlantic cross border investments including portfolio and private equity investments private wealth management Corporate/M&A (major real estate and energy transactions) and related white-collar criminal matters including assistance to ensure the US Transatlantic Alliance with Europe and related rule of law and human rights protections (September 2016). A U.S. citizen based in Europe the past 20 years Mr. Moore completed groundbreaking transactions in both the undeveloped transition economies of Central and South-East Europe Central Asia and the structured financial centers of London Geneva Frankfurt and Vienna.
Mr. Moore is currently a licensed member of Washington DC Bar Association and State Oklahoma Bar. Trained in finance and law in the United States he practiced international corporate law in major law firms such as Global Energy Group which became part of Dentons the global polycentric law firm which now is the worlds largest. He also launched and managed the highly recognized U.S. government-sponsored Romania American Enterprise Fund the first major private equity fund in Romania.
In the context of EU enlargement and harmonization of laws Mr. Moore is a regular advocate in Brussels and other European capitals for major investors in new Member States of the EU. He is a frequent speaker and advisor for the development of the European unconventional gas industry in Europe and Central Asia. He currently serves on boards of public policy groups and private sector companies and is an active member of the Board of Directors of The Atlantic Council of the United States the leading global public policy think-tank based in Washington DC.
I have been knowing Obie since 1992 when he was coordinating implementation programs related to legal assistance and rule of law in Bucharest Romania and we worked together for several legal projects. We met again on October 27 2003 at George Washington University in Washington DC when we both attended a meeting with former Romanian President Ion Iliescu and President Jimmy Carters former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
On October 3 2019 Obie Moore attended the annual
ALIANŢA/The Alliance Gala in Washington DC at the Conrad Hotel.
With that occasion Obie granted me an exclusive interview.
1. Mr. Obie Moore you are a great friend of Romania and you worked in Romania for many years. Please tell us in short about your activities for the readers of our journal.
Well I was one of the early Americans who went to Romania after observing Romanias first free and fair elections in 1990. I then accepted a consulting job in the USAID the security national development. In 1992 moving to Bucharest I established a rule-of-law program that became known that became to be known as Vocea civică" The Civic Voice developing civil society and civic education political advocacy…
2. The CEELI Central and Eastern European Law Initiative project.
Yes we worked closely with the ABA-CEELI American Bar Association-CEELI project which was a similar project. But that was really… Great times! We were selling ideas travelling around the country conducting seminars with Romanian leaders. It was… I really loved the job! But then you know investors started showing up. And then having been a commercial corporate lawyer then demand for my services led me to launch and manage as a country head in Romania the first private equity fund which was the Romanian American Enterprise Fund which was capitalized fifty million dollars by the U.S. government. We were trying to build a private sector to achieve commercial returns while doing social good at the same time. It was a fabulous job and undertaking. I loved it! And then the large law firm Salans which is now Dentons came to Bucharest offered me the job to be partner and launch their Bucharest office. I did that in 1997. We built that firm to the largest international law firm in Bucharest. And then after twelve years of that I did move to Geneva Switzerland. I went to work for one of my clients. I lived there five years doing investment-related work but still always being an advocate for Romanias rule of law stability and development of human rights which was always my first calling in Romania. I then decided after five years in Geneva to move to act to Washington DC where I was. My daughters have never been have never lived in the United States. So they started in high school here and then they have graduated from high school. And they are Romanian citizens. And so I now count on my own law practice in Washington but it still focuses heavily on Romania Ukraine other transition economies. So its a good time for me. Ive really enjoyed this career which has been largely sitting around Romania for the last thirty years really.
3. Very challenging.
Yes.
4. How do you see the Romanian-American relationship at this particular moment in history?
I see it as a special time the most unique time that there has been because right now there is this combination of alignment of interests I would say. Because of this Romania is being such an important country. In Romanias global security as it particularly relates to the open sea which is the Black Sea Romania is incredibly important. And what I have been advocating there is no question about Romanias loyalty to military security. But as a result I just think the United States continues to do more needs to do more to bring higher quantity and quality of U.S. foreign direct investments to Romania. There is a lot going on in the information technology sector with cyber-security. The Romanians are so gifted in this area technology. So… But I would like to see some more traditional industrial development in oil refineries and submit factories and other more traditional industries as well. So it is a very good time and I think the Romanians are providing more of an example to other countries of the region. There has been this backsliding in Hungary and Poland even Bulgaria. And the Romanians have a chance to really be a model example of what a truly functioning rule-of-law state is that has proper separation of co-equal powers which if you dont keep working on that you backslide. And I am even worried about that here in the United States right now about backsliding.
5. Last question. Please share with us briefly your insiders perspective in the American business community as to Romanias potential with good and bad highs and lows.
The lows here in Romania are… theyve improved dramatically over the last ten years particularly as it relates to clarity of requirements for investments for setting up companies. All investors look at the same list of issues as to determine if they want to invest in every country. And that is: really is there a functioning rule of law is there a properly trained commercial court judges is there a minority protection in shareholder rights and is there proper corporate governance? All those types of issues Romania has done a very good job at. But I think in the Romanias corruption fight they had some stops and starts and so on. And there is always this concern about the security services controlling the judiciary which I am always greatly concerned about. But other than that the Romanian prosecutorial bodies have achieved have higher quality and better trained prosecutors and magistrates now that are in this. And they are working more diligently without… with less political influence. I mean as people know back in the I think Băsescu presidency there was all this manipulation and so on that was being alleged and talked about. But I see things more stable now and I think its a very good environment for foreign investment. And I just think the biggest problem is just keeping Romanians there in Romania because where there is a shortage of a workforce we have to import into Romania people from other countries such as Pakistan such as the Philippines and elsewhere. So we need the good talented Romanians to remain in the country. But we need… but they really want to connect they really feel strongly towards United States. So we need more U.S. and particularly you know U.S. investment there among other forms of foreign investment as well.
6. Thank you so much Mr. Moore.
Thank you thank you very much.
(October 05 2019)
TIBERIU DIANU has published several books and a host of articles in law politics and post-communist societies. He currently lives and works in Washington DC and can be followed on MEDIUM.
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