The independent companies have produced 4.2 bcm of natural gas, 0.4% less than in 2016. Informationally, production grew by 7% in 2016, and by 20% in 2015. Today, unfortunately, we are experiencing stagnation of production in the private sector.

Gas producers are pushing forward the immediate implementation of reforms, which should alter the tendency:

• Gas production deregulation. Passing the draft law №3096-d will allow to dramatically simplify the procedure of entering the oil and gas fields into production, and will speed up the land allotment for drilling. Approving the document will bring Ukraine's permitting system closer to the best international standards.

• Hosting transparent bidding for new licenses. The state has to propose a large-scale plan on issuing the rights to use the subsoil, and offer the companies a large list of licenses to invest in in an open and non-discriminatory way.

• Liberalize the circulation of the geological information and modernize the soviet databases will allow the potential investors to easily obtain the desired information open for access, to individually assess the territories, select tracts, and nominate them for auctions.

• Modernize the Subsoil Code with taking into account the best world practices and European standards.