Reuters: U.S. officials urge Ukraine to reform natgas market

Ukraine must reform its historically inefficient and corrupt natural gas markets to guard against Russian aggression and supply controls, U.S. State Department officials told lawmakers on Tuesday.

After invading and annexing Crimea this year, Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine last month in a dispute over unpaid bills. Escalation of the nearly decade-long argument between Moscow and Ukraine over gas imports has raised concerns about a disruption of supplies to the rest of Europe.

Ukraine has enough gas for now, but the winter heating season looms. The United States is trying to make sure Ukraine, Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries are better able to integrate into the EU's energy market of 400 million customers to get reliable supplies from Russia and other countries.

"This is an opportunity, it's a moment in time for Ukraine to walk away from its past," Amos Hochstein, deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy with the State Department's Bureau of Energy Resources, told lawmakers on a Senate foreign relations subcommittee.
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