While Russian gas transit through Ukraine fell by 7% last year, it spiked up 26% year-on-year in January,

While Russian gas transit through Ukraine fell by 7% last year, it spiked up 26% year-on-year in January, to 7.6 billion cubic meters. Today, about one third of Russia’s gas exports to Europe cross Ukraine. Russian officials say they will not need Ukraine’s gas pipelines in the 2020s. But recent years show they needed Ukraine as a back up when the Nord Stream pipeline had problems. Russia’s 10-year gas transit contract with Ukraine expires at the end of this year. Russian officials say they will renegotiate seriously only after they know who will be Ukraine’s next president.