However, shifting gas sales, for example, to Chinese markets is not possible. ... In the case of China, it might take 10 to 15 years to build the inf… - Andriy Kobolyev

Beyond the military domain, the most obvious target for such retaliation is Russian energy exports, which account for roughly 36 percent of the country's total budget revenues, most of which are used to fund military expenditure. Europe should move fast to replace Russian energy supplies permanently.

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.