MOSCOW, December 15 (Sputnik) – Transportation safety and Kiev's participation in global transit routes are up in the air because of rising transit risks, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.
"Many countries, not only Russia, will likely have to change their supply routes to Central and Southern Europe. Thus, Ukraine's participation in global transit routes from East to West and from North to South is questionable," Medvedev said in his opinion piece in the Monday issue of Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper.
The prime minister went on to say that transit risks in the pipeline industry and elsewhere are visibly on the rise in Ukraine. Safety in road, rail and port transportation is also called into question. That notwithstanding, according to Medvedev, the country's geographical position enables it to play an important role in international trade.
Earlier in December, the CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom said new pipeline projects and the dropping of the South Stream would nullify Ukraine's role as a transit country. The South Stream was originally designed to deliver natural gas from Russia to a number of EU countries bypassing Ukraine.
