MOSCOW, March 29 - A particularly heavy drop in Russian gas exports to Europe in March not only dashes hopes of export growth this year as a whole but also of last year's exports being sustained.

Gazprom has exported roughly 11.3 billion cubic meters of gas to non-CIS countries in March, 23% less than in the same month last year, according to preliminary calculations by Interfax, based on data from the Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex (CDU TEK).