VLAD WHO?:

[W]hile Ukraine's steadfast courage in the face of Russia's aggression has set a remarkable example, the West can also learn from our experience of decoupling from Russia. Ever since the war started in 2014, Ukraine has been steadily decreasing its reliance on its most long-term ally and neighbour. Right after the war broke out, Ukraine imposed sanctions on everything from consumer goods, alcohol and tobacco, to vehicles and fertilisers. Russia's role as an export market has also been steadily declining and it now comprises only 5% compared to around a third of all the Ukrainian exports back in 2013.

My country's biggest challenge, similar to the one facing the rest of the world now, was reliance on Russian energy. When the German government signed the now-postponed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would have bypassed Ukraine, it became clear we would need an alternative solution. Ukraine does have its own natural gas processing industry via the catchily named state-owned company UkrGazVydobuvannya, encompassing the full production cycle from exploration and field development to processing, refining and sales. The capacities of the industry though are not quite sufficient. While the company has kept functioning all throughout the war and perid of martial law, it can only provide for 14,000 of 17,000 cbm of domestic demand, while industrial demand is even higher.

In search of securing a stable gas supply, Ukraine has resorted to buying reverse gas from Europe - the same gas it transported through its territory from Russia, and that some EU states were profiting from by selling back to Ukraine. In the meantime, Kyiv started actively pursuing its hydrogen strategy, with exports of blue, black and green hydrogen. A deal has been struck with the German government, and co-operation is being developed with the UK. The enormous underground gas storage facilities that Ukraine already operates could also come in useful for developing the industry.

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