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

There is no reason for the EU not to place an immediate embargo on supplies of Russian LNG and petroleum products. Russia's energy stranglehold has lasted for too long. This step will save lives, and not only in Ukraine.

The Russians and Putin have always believed Europe can never survive without Russian oil. ... Putin thinks if he wins in Ukraine, the Kremlin will be forgiven because there is no alternative, and the west is weak. That is how he thinks, how Gazprom thinks, and how Rosneft thinks. That is how they see the world. That is why Putin personally controls the energy trade. It is his sacred cash cow. ...There is a Russian proverb: a sacred place is never empty for long.

Naftogaz was mostly used as an instrument to do two things: firstly, to bribe the electorate through the huge prepaid subsidies, and secondly for corrupt practices.