FACTBOX: Top Russian gas customers in Europe

(Reuters) - The following is a list of the top customers in Europe of Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom, which cut supplies to its neighbor Ukraine on Thursday over a pricing dispute.

Gazprom said it had simultaneously increased supplies to the rest of Europe via the territory of Ukraine.

Countries in eastern and central Europe are likely to feel any disruption first. Poland's pipeline operator said on Thursday it had so far seen no decline in gas pressure.

GERMANY, Gazprom's biggest customer, bought 34.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in 2007 or 42 percent of its annual consumption. The biggest clients are E.ON and BASF.

TURKEY overtook Italy as the second biggest Russian gas buyer in 2007 when it imported 23.4 bcm or 67 percent of its annual consumption. State company Botas is the top buyer of gas.

ITALY came third in 2007 with imports of 22 bcm or 28 percent of annual consumption. Energy major ENI is the main customer, although Gazprom also sells gas to third parties under separate deals.

BRITAIN, absent from Gazprom's export map five years ago, became its fourth largest export market in 2007 with a total of 15.2 bcm sold, representing 16 percent of consumption.

Gazprom supplies Britain with complicated swap schemes, which means Siberian gas molecules rarely reach British cities. It also supplies Britain with liquefied natural gas sourced from oil majors by swapping it against Russian pipeline gas in countries such as France or Italy.

FRANCE, which had refrained from buying bigger volumes of Russian gas in past years, imported 10.1 bcm in 2007 or 24 percent of its annual use. Gazprom's main partner is GDF Suez, but the Russian firm also sells gas to smaller independent customers, as it does in Italy.