For the third winter in a row, Ukraine is on the verge of an energy disaster. If previously the main reason was shelling of power plants, then the winter of 2024/2025 has become a serious challenge for the gas production industry. Gas production is declining, the heating season is ending ahead of schedule, the total gas deficit may increase to 7.9 billion cubic meters, which will cost $4.1-4.5 billion. 

We will have to import more at European prices, but where will the money come from? While our own Ukrainian enterprises want to work but cannot.

Every day we lose 240 thousand cubic meters of gas and 36 tons of gas condensate, which could be used to meet the needs of citizens and enterprises. And in a year, this will result in billions of losses for the state. What will happen to the productivity of wells and the condition of equipment after another restoration is a big question. But the longer the downtime lasts, the more losses not only for the company, but also for the state as a whole. 

After all, the shutdown has an impact on the economy and social sphere of the region bordering Russia: jobs and tax revenues are lost, support from local communities in Poltava and Kharkiv regions is decreasing. 

Therefore, the state should apply the mechanism for resuming the work of stopped enterprises, which has already been used before, and which allows this to be done without lifting sanctions against individual individuals. “We need to decide now. Not in years, months or weeks. We are talking about days. Otherwise, we will have to fire people and close the company,” emphasizes Ivan Gerasymovych, CEO of Smart Holding.