Italy has overtaken Turkey to become Russia’s second largest gas importer in Europe after Germany, reported S&P Global Platts.

According to Oil Price, Italy has witnessed its second highest increase in demand volume in its history when its demand has grown by 5.3% to 24.2bcm of gas from 2014 to 2015. Italy’s purchases are continuing to rise this year; in the first trimester of the year, Italy noted a 28% increase in gas purchases and in the second quarter, growth also continued, but at a slower pace of 5.3%.

On the other hand, Turkey’s Russian imports have faltered this year as a consequence of the strained diplomatic relations that the two countries are going through due to the downing of a Russian jet in November 2015. In the first three months of this year, Turkey had only bought 6.42bcm from Russia’s Gazprom, representing a 15% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2015.

Oil Price also added that the Italian market is most likely to benefit in the long run from the greater availability of natural gas from Russia as Moscow plans on constructing a new pipeline route across the Black Sea to Greece and Italy.