Ukraine's Energy Challenge
OP-ED
Olga Bielkova: In Ukraine’s energy sector, failure is not an option
An employee checks equipment at the Dashava underground gas storage facility near Striy, outside Lviv, on May 28.
During OPEC's oil embargo in the 1970s, America learned what happens when a reliance on foreign energy meets geopolitics. Today the situation in my country - Ukraine - is even more serious. Our energy policy has long been linked with politics, and our dependence on Russian energy supplies has left us vulnerable to political blackmailing. Achieving energy independence is not just a matter of Ukraine's economic viability; it is also a matter of national security, sovereignty, and survival as a state.