WASHINGTON—The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following briefing:
HIGH CRIMES AND PIPELINES:
CURBING CORRUPTION IN UKRAINE’S ENERGY SECTOR
Monday, June 18, 2018
3:30 p.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room G11
Live Webcast: www.facebook.com/HelsinkiCommission
Corruption continues to plague Ukraine’s energy sector. Despite the success of reforms to its state-owned gas company, Naftogaz, rampant corruption in regional distribution companies and elsewhere prevents Ukraine’s energy sector from realizing its potential. Coupled with the Russian assault on energy security in the form of Nord Stream 2, Ukraine finds itself at a crossroads: will it continue on the reformist path toward energy independence, or will its energy sector once again become defined by corruption?
This briefing will review the challenges facing Ukraine’s energy sector with a focus on corruption’s role in preventing necessary reforms. Speakers will provide expertise and insight as to how Ukraine’s energy sector fits into the larger picture of Ukraine’s fight against corruption. They will also examine Russia’s malign influence in the country. Finally, the briefing will offer policy responses to these issues.
The following panelists are scheduled to participate:
- Ambassador Bill Courtney, Former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia and Kazakhstan and career foreign service officer
- Ed Chow, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska, Member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada
