The second round of Ukraine’s presidential election on 21 April resulted in former actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy becoming head of state,potentially undermining recent progress in the energy sector.Zelenskiy’s victory reflects huge mistrust of outgoing president Petro Poroshenko,disillusionment at his failure to tackle corruption and rising gas and electricity prices,and the absence of a solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.But Poroshenko can claim some key energy sector achievements.Ukraine has eliminated its dependence on Russian gas imports since 2014-launching an ambitious programme to increase domestic production-and transformed stateowned Naftogaz into a profitable oil and gas firm,after years of losses.Poroshenko also ended controversial businessman Igor Kolomoisky’s control over Ukraine’s top crude producer,Ukrnafta,and pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta.
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