A lot of populist politicians began to use it as a tool to discredit reforms and to increase their rating in the year of double elections. ... Now I … - Andriy Kobolyev

Moreover, the EU's Green Deal, which commits the bloc to become carbon-neutral by 2050, means the balance of bargaining power has shifted decisively from fossil fuel producers to consumers. European governments must use that advantage to sanction Russian energy exports in a way that will not damage their economies. The best approach is the tried and tested Iranian sanction model: natural gas can flow from Gazprom to Europe. However, all proceeds are kept in special escrow accounts in European banks until Russia meets certain conditions.

With blows like that, the Russian Federation is trying to make sure that Ukraine as a state will fail Kobolyev said that Nord Stream 2 would kill the Ukrainian transit route.

“Every Saturday, they would run shows saying how bad Naftogaz is, what a bad person Kobolyev is” (Andriy Kobolyev said to the Wall Street Journal about a Firtash-controlled television station called Inter started airing negative coverage about Kobolyev. “In Ukraine, those favors don't come for free. If you want a TV channel which is a propaganda channel to promote you, that comes at a cost,” he said.