Ukraine is pushing ahead with “painful but necessary” gas price reforms, intended to eliminate state-owned supplier Naftogaz’s deficit — equivalent to 5pc of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) — within two years, according to finance minister Natalie Jaresko. The pricing reforms are part of a package of fiscal and monetary restructuring imposed by international lenders to help to bring Ukraine’s financial crisis under control. Ukraine is focusing efforts on reducing tax fraud and tackling business loopholes. This includes diversifying the country’s gas supply and decreasing Naftogaz debt. “We have eliminated corruption in much of the gas sector, and intermediaries no longer exist in transit,” Jaresko told delegates at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) annual business forum in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 15 May. “We have committed to move to a costrecovery system in the next two years, in line with a reduction in energy subsidies,” she said.
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