HONORARY ADVISOR TO THE PRIME MINISTER VICTOR PONTA Wesley Clark, increasingly involved in energy

Wesley K. Clark, former NATO general and currently honorary advisor to Prime Minister Victor Ponta, yesterday joined the investment group Blackstone Group, with the position of consultant in the energy sector, as well as director of Fisterra Energy, a company set up by Blackstone, with projects in the energy sector in regions such as Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

The official goal of General Clark in his position of advisor to the "Blackstone" investment fund is to help "countries overcome their energy challenges".

In July last year, Wesley Clark was appointed as special adviser on strategic security matters, as well as on economic matters, to Prime Minister Victor Ponta, without receiving a remuneration from the Romanian government.

The Prime Minister was saying at the time: "I have succeeded in convincing a major international personality, general Wesley Clark, to accept a position which we sorely needed, of special adviser, in other words, special advisor on strategic matters, matters of security and on matters of economic strategies".

At the time, Clark himself was saying that Romania's chance was to exploit its mineral resources: "My job here is to support economic development, to support the creation of business opportunities in Romania. We are focusing on areas such as the exploitation of mineral resources, agriculture, hydrocarbons, the healthcare sector and other areas where we can bring technologies and investments which can create jobs. I think that Romania is a rich country which has capable people, but the investments that are needed here for economic developments do not exist here. We need a strategy for economic development, and it is this segment that I am working on".

Investment fund "Blackstone" was founded by businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman, who, in 2010, according to a ranking made by a business publication, held the position no. 33 in the ranking of the richest Jews in the world.

• Clark and shale gas

General Wesley Clark said on several occasions that he supports both the Roşia Montană project, as well as the exploitation of shale gas, an are which in his opinion will have an extraordinary future in Romania.

According to the press, general Clark is also co-president of Growth Energy, a lobby group in the area of alternative energy, and also a "board" member of BNK Petroleum Inc, which, through its subsidiary, Indiana Investments, conducts major operations for collecting shale gas in Poland.

About three years ago, billionaire George Soros bought about 20% of the shares of BNK Petroleum, through his investment fund Quantum Partners LP.

The press claims that George Soros partly financed the failed electoral campaign of General Wesley Clark for the presidency of the United States, in 2004.

George Soros' interest in the exploitation of natural resources in Eastern Europe is well known, as he has investments in natural gas in Poland, as well as in the rare metals mines of Kosovo and in the huge coal reserves of the former Serbian province.