Visit-Montenegro.com: Bob Dole presented Montenegro to the Investors

Podgorica- Ex -Republican leader in the U.S .Senate and former presidential candidate- Bob Dole was engaged as a lobbyist for Montenegro in Washington.
According to the report of the Foreign Agents Registration Unit (FARA), the department that registers companies and individuals engaged in lobbying, their revenues and contacts with national administrations, Bob Dole was engaged to promote Montenegro as an attractive destination for investments during 2007 and 2008.
At the end of 2007 he hosted glamorous event in Washington, which was attended by many power-brokers and businessmen, so as to make foreign investors interested in Montenegrin economy.
US-based "Sunlight Foundation" and "ProPublica", prepared a very complex report, in digital form, on activities of “foreign agents”- as they officially call the lobbyists- given by the US Ministry of Justice and FARA Agency. The aim was to put data gathered by FARA in a digital format that can be easily searched and analyzed to “discover all the players in the foreign lobbying game”.
:Sunlight" and "ProPublica" report that lobbyists for various foreign agents, including a handful of for-profit corporations, disclosed receiving $87 million in fees in 2007 and 2008. In the same period lobbyists contacted congressional offices more than 10,700 times, including 2,280 meetings, nearly 2,600 phone conversations and more than 4,000 e-mails and approximately same number of letters and faxes.
Countries engaged in the most intensive lobbying campaigns include long-term allies like Turkey and as the report says “recent adversaries like Libya”. Wealthy countries like the oil-rich United Arab Emirates are” players” (they paid more than $ 10 million to US lobbyists). This is the case with poor nations like Ethiopia, with a per capita GDP of just $800.
An examination of FARA records showed that there are more than 280 lobbying companies, which collected $87 million in fees for representing 340 foreign clients, including „governments, government-controlled organizations, political parties, separatist groups and a handful of for-profit firms.“
The examination revealed that several prominent former Congress members were engaged to represent foreign countries, among them ex-Senate leader Bob Dole (Taiwan and Montenegro). According to this report, Dole as a lobbyist for Montenegro was engaged as Special Counsel in "Alston & Bird", which is one of the leading US companies.
According to the report, Dole, who was the opposing candidate of Bill Clinton on presidential elections in 1996, and Marshall Harris, who is a senior policy advisor in "Alston & Bird's", organized a briefing, attended by prominent US officials, so as to make foreign investors interested in Montenegrin economy. The Registration Unit of the Ministry of Justice was informed in written form on this event, few days earlier, on the 18th October.
In the part of FARA report, that relates to Montenegro, there is no information on revenues reported by the company Alston & Bird and Bob Dole, as a compensation for lobbying for Montenegrin interests. There are only some symbolic sums between 0, 33 and $350 for courier and parking services, and for distribution of documents.
By D.T.