ABSTRACT
In Ukraine, as in most post-Soviet states, access to energy resources has been, apparently, the decisive criterion not just for uncontrolled enrichment but also for the development and viability of a strong patronal oligarchic model of power. Its “fabric” has been corruption and the absence of an actual energy market in Ukraine as such, which is condoned by the state, by the ordinary monopolies in the energy sector, and by the clan and political-financial groups operating under cover of the state.
