Analysis of the impact of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine on the energy independence of European countries

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the problems of energy independence and energy supply of European countries, given the impact of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. This analysis is based on the Energy Freedom Index (Ief) developed by the authors, which aggregates sub-indices of energy potential, energy balance, and energy development. A rating of 142 countries of the world was formed according to the value of this index and the places of the EU countries and Ukraine in this rating were determined. Measures aimed at increasing the level of energy independence of European countries and Ukraine were analyzed. Diversification of supplies and accelerated transition to clean energy were proposed as the main measures. European countries have been clustered according to the level of economic and security losses due to the embargo on Russian energy resources. Four groups of countries have been identified in terms of their readiness to replace Russian energy resources and impose embargoes. The dynamics of the indicators of the energy freedom index and their dependence on Russian imports were analyzed, and measures to reduce this dependence were proposed.

Keywords

• energy independence
• energy freedom index
• full-scale russian invasion of ukraine
• reliance on russian fossil fuels