Can Zelensky afford to freeze Ukraine’s gas prices?

This morning, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a moratorium on energy prices – so while gas bills are rising all over Europe, Ukraine will remain unaffected. This honours a pledge he made on his election. Freezing energy bills is a standard populist policy in Ukrainian politics (in a country where temperatures can reach -25ºC and the elderly can’t afford to buy medicine, it’s hard to win without making such promises). But there are now serious worries about whether it could bankrupt a government that needs all the money it can get to fight a war.

Energy prices will be frozen until six months after martial law ends in Ukraine: the pledge is good for as long as the war lasts. The current plan is for Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned energy company, to buy gas at the current sky-high prices – then sell it at a low price. This means Zelensky’s government has to make up the £2.5