Amb. Adrian Zuckerman (ret).

Of Counsel, DLA Piper LLP (US)

Ambassador Zuckerman is a New York real estate and corporate attorney. He is currently Of Counsel to DLA Piper.

At DLA Piper Amb. Zuckeman brings together his unique skills as a lawyer and former government official to advise multinational corporations on legal, regulatory, and governmental affairs as they expand into emerging markets in Eastern Europe.

He previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Romania from 2019 until January 2021. Under his leadership Romania signed a ten-year defense cooperation agreement with the United States that provided financial, military and strategic support and cooperation

He also advanced and helped structure an intergovernmental agreement between the US and Romania for the $8 billion refurbishment of the Cernavoda nuclear plant which included refurbishing one operating reactor and building two additional nuclear reactors. To help finance this project the Ambassador negotiated a $7 billion financing agreement with the Export- Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). The Cernavoda project is the largest-ever joint project between the United States and Romania.

The project financing is also the biggest financing agreement by Romania with EXIM as well as EXIM’s single largest financing agreement.

During Ambassador Zuckerman’s tenure, Romania also implemented new economic and infrastructure initiatives as well as initiatives to combat organized crime, human trafficking, fraud, corruption and intellectual property theft, among others. In January 2021 Romanian President Iohannis awarded Ambassador Zuckerman Romania’s highest civilian award, the Star of Romania, Order of the Grand Cross.