SARAJEVO — AAFS Infrastructure and Energy is close to securing a concession to build and operate a pipeline across the Balkans to allow fossil gas shipped from the U.S. to replace supplies from Russia. The project aligns with U.S. efforts to reduce regional dependence on Russian energy sources.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said: "The Southern Interconnection gas pipeline, which has been a [U.S. government] priority for the past three administrations, will expand and diversify Bosnia and Herzegovina’s energy sector, giving BiH greater control over its energy supply by providing access to market-based natural gas and reducing dependence on a single, unreliable source."

AAFS Infrastructure and Energy has no record of attempting projects at the scale of the proposed Balkans pipeline. The company is owned by a U.S. entity of the same name registered in November, and its Washington office is registered at the address of Binnall Law Group, located between a Lebanese restaurant and an Irish pub in a tourist district by the Potomac River.

Amer Bekan registered a Bosnian company named AAFS in 2021. Initial discussions between Bekan and representatives Jesse Binnall and Joe Flynn with Bosnian officials in autumn 2021 centered on a $300 million renovation of two airports, not the pipeline.

One of AAFS’s representatives is Jesse Binnall, a Washington lawyer who has acted for the Trumps in political cases. Another is Joe Flynn, the brother of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The Trump administration has made clear to Bosnia’s leaders that it wants approval for AAFS’s pipeline project, signaling high-level U.S. support for the initiative despite the company’s lack of prior experience with large-scale energy infrastructure.