Russia, north east European

Gas production incneasad in every region except North Amarica, where US output continued to decline. The largest increases were in Russia, the Netherlands, China and the Middle East. European output rose despite the continued decline in the UK. 

As already noted, sufficient reserves exist in a range of countries within economic reach of European gas markets - Russia, North Africa, Middle East, Caspian, and a number of intercontinental TNG suppliers - to bring sufficient gas supplies to Europe to meet the projected levels of demand. But such imports, far from being seen as the solution to European gas security, are almost universally seen as the problem. A question addressed later in this chapter is whether the historical record supports the contention that increasingly import dependence should be automatically considered to be equivalent to decreasing supply security. 

In the European part of the former USSR iodine deficiency areas cover vast territories in the north and west of Russia, Baltic states, Belorussia, western part of Ukraine, the Urals, the Caucasus. Iodine deficiency is also common for the Asian part of the country Siberia, Central Asia, Far East. About 65% of inhabited territory of CIS is considered to be iodine deficient. 

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