President Barack Obama nominated the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the country`s energy issues Robert Francis Cekuta for the post of ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Cekuta has most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy, Sanctions, and Commodities in the State Department’s Bureau for Energy and Business Affairs.

Recent overseas assignments include Tokyo (2007 – 2009) and Berlin (2003 – 2007) where he led the US government’s engagement on the full range of economic issues with two of the world’s top economies.

Cekuta’s work as Economic Minister Counselor in Germany included counter-terrorism and efforts to combat international criminal activities. He was also Senior Advisor for Food Security in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and Senior Deputy Coordinating Director at the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan for all development and economic affairs.

Having been assigned overseas in Albania, Austria, Iraq, South Africa, and Yemen, Cekuta has also worked in the Office of the US Trade Representative (1999 – 2000).

He has held positions in Washington at the State Department responsible for energy, trade, and economic development, including Director for Economic Policy Analysis and Public Diplomacy, Special Negotiator for Biotechnology, and Director of the Iraq Economic Task Force.

Cekuta is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds Masters Degrees from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and the National War College.

"We are pleased that the Committee approved the candidacy of the new ambassador to Azerbaijan,” the embassy said. “We look forward to his taking office."

The post of US ambassador to Azerbaijan is vacant. The former Ambassador Richard Morningstar returned to the United States after ending his term of office.

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