Since having seized Ukrainian territory and energy installations in 2014, Russia and its gas company, Gazprom, have been waging systematic economic warfare against Ukraine in an attempt to destroy Naftogaz – Ukraine’s energy company and the single biggest source of state revenue – and the Ukrainian state. To date, however, Russia has failed. Indeed, Naftogaz won three arbitral awards against Gazprom in 2017 and 2018; these were about Gazprom’s efforts to divert gas using the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, blocking Central Asian gas from traveling through Ukraine. But Gazprom has refused to pay the $2.6 billion arbitration award granted to Naftogaz. Instead, Russia is blocking that award, building Nord Stream 2, and trying to use the pipeline to suffocate Ukraine’s economy and strengthen its grip on European energy supplies.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Ukraine's Energy Challenge
OP-ED
Stephen Blank: Nord Stream 2 is a deal with the devil
Picture taken on Nov. 15, 2018 shows a man standing on the pipe-laying ship "Audacia" looking on as tubes are layed for the "Nord Stream 2" gas pipeline off the coast of the Baltic Sea island Ruegen, northeastern Germany.
