The EU's decision to lend $2.5bn was not welcomed by Russia, who said that it was "unprofessional" to make deals like this without consulting the main supplier (80 % of Russian gas exports currently go through Ukraine). It has been estimated that the existing pipelines are already well into two-thirds of their projected life span. The planned life span for Ukrainian pipelines, most of which were built between 1950 and 1970, is 33 years (sounds like the current U.S. energy problem). (In 2004, 22% of the Ukrainian pipelines exceeded that and 66% were between 10 and 33 years old.) Logistically pipelines play a big role as not all countries in the EU have the capacity to use LNG facilities, and are still highly dependent on natural gas (see figure 1).
| Country | Dependence on Russian gas | |
| France | 21% | |
| Italy | 31% | |
| Germany | 43% | |
| Slovenia | 60% | |
| Austria | 73% | |
| Slovak Republic | 73% | |
| Czech Republic | 74% | |
| Poland | 79% | |
| Hungary | 81% | |
| Greece | 82% | |
| | Finland | 100% |
| Estonia | 100% | |
| Latvia | 100% | |
| Lithuania | 100% |
Read more at TheOilDrum
This also sheds light on Frances nuclear program and begs the question when will the regulatory, fuel and waste costs implode Frances 'free' energy program.
