MOSCOW, Jan. 10 - Ukraine, once controlling two thirds of the transit of Russian gas to former Soviet countries, now handles less than half of the pumping, according to Interfax calculations based on data on Russian and European dispatchers.

Where in the first quarter of 2011 Ukraine handled 63%, a year later that figure was 56%, and in the fourth quarter 55%. In 2012, only Nord Stream put together turnover. Gazprom became a one-hundred percent shareholder in Beltransgaz. So for the entire year there was step-by-step work on shifting transit flow from the Ukrainian corridor to Nord Stream and Yamal-Europe.