, reports Deutsche Welle. The €9.5 billion Russia—Germany natural gas pipeline is designed to render Ukraine’s Soviet-era east-west gas pipeline redundant. Coupled with Nord Stream 1, the two Baltic sea bed pipelines will have a combined annual capacity of 110 billion cubic meters of gas. After Gazprom’s gas transmission contract with Ukraine expires in 2024, Ukraine is expected to lose $1.5 billion a year in transmission fees.