Bryan Lanza, who served as a senior adviser on President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, has become a consultant to the international division of Russian oil company Lukoil, Politico reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Lanza and his firm Mercury Public Affairs are interfacing with the US government on a transaction involving the sale of Lukoil's global assets after the company was sanctioned last month, according to one of the sources. The entities have helped secure extensions for the sale from the Treasury Department, with the current deadline set for 17 January. Reuters reported Thursday that American bank Xtellus Partners is the leading bidder for those assets. Lanza began the work for Lukoil in recent weeks.
Lukoil's international division, based in Austria, operates refineries, oil fields and 2,000 gas stations worldwide, including more than 200 in the United States. The work does not fall under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) or the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) requirements because it involves a commercial transaction, meaning Lanza is not required to register. He also conducts lobbying work for several major Fortune 500 companies, including Bank of America and Qualcomm.
Lanza declined to comment on the arrangement. Spokespeople for Mercury and Lukoil did not immediately respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Lanza worked on Trump's presidential campaigns, including the 2024 race. In November, he made headlines when he stated that the Trump administration would focus on achieving peace in Ukraine rather than enabling Ukraine to reclaim territories occupied by Russia. While he did not specifically mention territories in eastern Ukraine, he said that returning Crimea is unrealistic and "not a goal of the United States."
"When [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy says we will stop these hostilities, that peace will only come after Crimea is returned, we have news for President Zelenskyy: Crimea is no more. And if your priority is the return of Crimea and American soldiers fighting to get it back, you're on your own," the BBC quoted him as saying.
A Trump spokesperson subsequently stated that Lanza "does not speak on behalf of" the US president.
CNN reported in 2018 that Bryan Lanza regularly contacted White House officials while lobbying for the interests of the chairman of EN+ Group — an energy and aluminum company owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. CNN emphasized that Lanza represented the chairman of EN+ Group's board, but not Deripaska directly.
Lanza was once a political contributor for CNN but no longer works with the network.
