Roman Pipko | |
|---|---|
| United States Ambassador to Estonia Nominee | |
| Assuming office TBD | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Succeeding | George P. Kent |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 10,1960 Estonia |
| Relatives | Elizabeth Pipko (daughter) Marc Klionsky (father-in-law) |
| Education | Columbia University (BA) Yale University (JD) |
Roman Pipko (born July 10,1960) is an American lawyer who has been nominated by President Donald Trump to be the United States ambassador to Estonia.
Pipko was born in Estonia to Russian-Jewish parents. [1] [2] His parents were defense attorneys and graduates of the Leningrad Law School sent by the Soviet occupiers to illegally occupied Estonia after graduating as part of their Russification campaign. [2]
At an early age,his mother enrolled him in an Estonian-language preschool against his father's wishes. [2] He attended the Faculty of Law at the University of Tartu in Estonia while it was under Soviet occupation. [3] He was not fully fluent in Estonian at the time according to a classmate,future MP Valdo Randpere,who described him as capable despite not being fluent in the language due to his family being Russian. [4]
In 1981,his mother left her husband,a member of the Communist Party,with their children to escape communism and start a better life for her family in the United States. [5] Despite strict laws restricting emigration during the illegal Soviet occupation,Jews were sometimes allowed to emigrate. [4] He graduated from Columbia University and Yale Law School in 1986 after immigrating to the United States. [6] [7]
After immigrating to the US in 1981,Pipko worked at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University. [8] He practiced law at Paul,Weiss,Rifkind,Wharton &Garrison,where he was a specialist in Russian law. [9] He represented America as a senior counsel the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and was senior managing director of the Russian American Enterprise Fund. [10] He has been involved in projects for the Export Import Bank. [5]
Pipko visited Estonia as a legal advisor to U.S. investors including Ronald Lauder in 1991 where he proved his fluency in Estonian and Russian. [11] In 2009 he was the majority partner of Remi International which was part of a consortium,also with Ronald Lauder,that launched Tallinn Entertainment to renovate Tallinn City Hall. [12] The project was to include a conference center,concert hall,casino center,and hotel at the site. [13] Although an agreement was signed, [14] [15] it was canceled because the city and the company could not agree on the project's ownership structure. [16] The site continues to be abandoned. [13] He also participated in failed negotiations for an American consortium to renovate a cement plant in Kunda. [4]
He was an executive and special counsel at Leon Tempelsman and Son. [17]
In 2024,he was appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to be the United States ambassador to Estonia. [18] The announcement is high-profile because Estonia is a United States NATO ally that borders Russia. [19] [20]
He is president of the board of trustees of the Park East Day School. [6]
Model and political operative Elizabeth Pipko is his daughter. He is married to Elena Klionsky,a concert pianist and daughter of Marc Klionsky. [21]
He and his family have been members of the Park East Synagogue since 1974. [22]