After years of aversion caused by Russia's aggression on Ukraine , German business leaders for the first time officially appear at the global economical Forum in St. Petersburg. "Not only in the period after the ceasefire, we, like another large Western countries, want to keep the economical bridge with Russia and defend German assets worth over EUR 100 billion there," said the German Press Agency Matthias Schepp , president of the Board of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce . Americans and French have been present on the forum since last year, conducting business dialogue.
"The West should not give Russia, its large marketplace and the natural materials of Asia permanently," Schepp says. Just Chinese They founded 1,400 fresh companies in Russia in the first 4th of this year.
According to the programme of the global economical Forum in St. Petersburg (SPIEF), they will participate in the business dialogue, among others. Stefan Dürr, a dairy maker operating in Russia within the EcoNiva Group, and Thomas Bruch (76), Multiannual Managing manager of Globes Holding. The Globus retail chain, like about 1,600 another German companies, inactive operates in Russia, according to the Chamber of Commerce. The home estimates its gross at around EUR 20 billion last year.
Due to Western sanctions, German-Russian trade volume fell below EUR 10 billion last year. To the outbreak of the Russian aggressive war Germany were Russia's largest European trading partner – with a volume of EUR 59.7 billion in 2021 and a highest of EUR 80 billion in 2012.
Business climate survey: Germany remains in Russia
According to a fresh survey conducted by the Chamber of Commerce among 750 members on business climate, almost all companies plan to stay in Russia due to the fact that they consider this marketplace to be significant. 75% of the 265 participants in the survey stated that they were satisfied with the improvement of their business in Russia – despite the failure of millions of dollars due to sanctions.
Two thirds of respondents are convinced that Western sanctions have a serious (49%) or very serious (18%) impact on the Russian economy. A small over a 3rd of companies believe that Western sanctions harm Germany more than Russia. More than half said that they harm both Germany and Russia equally. To the question, ‘Should Germany resume imports of gas and oil from Russia?’, 65% replied, ‘Yes, the sooner, the better’ and 31%: ‘Yes, but only after the end of the fighting in Ukraine’.
