OP-ED

Aura Sabadus: Ukraine’s historic gas sector reforms are under threat

By Aura Sabadus.

Published Jan. 23, 2021 at 2:19 am

An employee of state energy company Naftogaz drills for gas at the Zakhidno-Sosnivske gas field on June 24, 2020. Local gas distributor Regional Gas Company has been testing transportation of a mix of hydrogen and natural gas in closed areas of the gas distribution system in five Ukraine’s oblasts since February, but needs money to continue. Companies lack government support to start generating electricity from hydrogen.

Photo by Kostyantyn Chernichkin

Since 2014’s Euromaidan Revolution, Ukraine has introduced comprehensive gas sector reforms that have attracted attention not only in Western capitals but also across Eastern Europe. This international interest is understandable. Within the space of just five years, Ukraine’s gas sector ceased to be a source of widespread corruption and became a model for neighboring countries seeking to reform their own energy industries.