Germany hopes that the sanctions adopted by the Westerners against Russiain retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, have “significant repercussions” on their own economysaid his Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Thursday.
(Read: US experts say the Russian invasion is a strategic disaster)
“The impact of the sanctions and the war is such that we can fear that even small disturbances will have major repercussions,” the German minister assured.
(You may be interested: The eighth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine began with new bombings)
(Due to the public interest in the events between Russia and Ukraine, all of our coverage of that invasion and related actions will be freely accessible to all readers of TIME)
We will launch a credit program (…) so that companies in difficulties can benefit from the favorable interest rates of the State.
These effects are “predictable and partially perceptible” he added and considered that they are facing “a situation of a complexity that has not been seen for many years”.
Habeck estimated that the “German companies have about 20 billion euros ($22 billion) invested in Russia,” and only “7.4 billion are covered by insurers“.
To compensate for the losses, Habeck announced that they were going to unblock some aid for German companies present in Russia, but without giving more details about the amount.
The fallout in Germany from the conflict in Ukraine comes at a time when the country’s economy has already been in decline for months due to the coronavirus pandemic and shortages in global supply chains.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, German GDP fell by 0.3% and, before the war in Ukraine, the Bundesbank foresaw a new “sensitive” fall” of activity for the beginning of 2022. As a result of the massive sanctions of Western countries against Russia, important German groups announced the suspension of their operations in this country, as well as the supply of goods.
“A recession could be feared if the German economy did not have the capacity to produce, that is, if the worst scenario actually occurred, but we are a government with the capacity to act, we are a strong country (…) and we work so that this not happen,” Habeck said.
AFP
More world news:
– France seizes Russian oligarch’s yacht over war sanctions
– Russian prosecutor’s office calls the protest against the invasion of Ukraine ‘extremist’
– Afghans sell kidneys to feed their families
#Germany #expect #huge #economic #impact #sanctions #Russia
