On May 23, 2017, Reuters reported that Russian state-controlled rail company Russian Railways rerouted a significant portion of cargo typically transported through Latvia via rail. Unidentified Latvian officials and Latvian transport executives said that Russian Railways likely slashed cargo transit through Latvia in response to the Latvian government’s refusal to back Russian plans for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Latvian rails experienced a 90 percent drop in the volume of cargo transported through Latvia from Russia in 2017; no other country experienced such a dramatic decrease in cargo transit. Russian state-controlled companies often leverage goods’ flows or prices for political gains.