Transit Transport Between the European Union and Russia in Light of Russian Geopolitics and Economics

The results of this study confirm that Russian geopolitical and economic dependencies are strongly reflected in the investment decisions that Russia takes to develop its transport infrastructures. Instead of using and expanding the existing facilities available in the new independent states, in the Baltics, Belarus, and Ukraine in particular, Russia prefers costly investments in construction of new direct outlets for its oil transports through the Baltic Pipeline System and for its gas transports from the Barents Sea to Central Europe. The study also contains new statistics about transit transport flows as well as their distribution by various transit transport corridors.