Burisma Offers Hope for Ukraine's Energy Independence

International Policy Digest

Image from article, with caption: Burisma

Excerpt:

Energy security is a strategic asset. It helps countries function efficiently, but also elevates and lowers certain states, serving as one of the single biggest reasons for disputes and conflict and for emerging economies, this is even more so.

Ukraine is a shining example. Amid a long drawn-out conflict with Russia that started in 2014, it is slowly forging a path to energy security, and finding out just how hard that can be. ...

Burisma Group, one of Ukraine’s largest private companies, has been working to promote the country’s energy security inside and outside its borders in parallel with the state’s own efforts, most recently by launching the import of large volumes of gas from Europe in August 2017.

Burisma’s focus on Ukraine’s energy security has expanded outside the country’s borders, and taken on a new international perspective.

In 2014, the company founded the annual Energy Security Forum in Monaco, in partnership with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Foundation Amicus Europae. Keynote speakers include former German Vice-Chancellor Joschka Fischer, former EU Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs and former U.S. Deputy U.S. Secretary of Energy TJ Glauthier.

The event has blossomed into one of the world’s largest public diplomacy vehicles aimed at raising awareness of energy security and incorporating renewable energy into the global mix. ...