The New York Times: With Gas Cut Off, Ukraine Looks West

Keeping Ukraine warm keeps Andriy Kobolev up at night. Mr. Kobolev, the head of Ukraine’s state energy company, Naftogaz, is scrambling to keep gas flowing into his country as winter looms. Russia’s energy giant, Gazprom, had provided a little more than half of Ukraine’s total gas supply, but suspended its shipments in June in the face of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military, citing a price dispute. Europe — itself dependent on Russia but also expanding sanctions on the country — has not been able to fill the gap.

That means Ukraine will have to cut its energy use sharply or risk running dry, which could lead to more civilian deaths when the weather turns cold, and could further batter the country’s economy.

“The situation is very difficult,” Mr. Kobolev said in a recent interview. “Since we have no choice, no other solution, we’ll find a solution and have to live with the amount of gas we will have.”
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