EU Sanctions Against Russia Triggered A "Sensitive Reaction" In German Footwear And Other Industries.

The decision of the European Union allowed Germany to join the US in lifting the "big stick" of sanctions with the United States in the new round of economic measures. However, behind Germany's economy, which is inextricably linked to Russia, weep silently in the "sanctions war" between Russia and the West.

Negative effects of sanctions

It is reported that the MWL phantom Building Co., which is headquartered in the eastern German town of grim, is not easy recently. Economic sanctions have caused Russian consumers to delay their purchase, which has seriously affected the company's sales. In the past 6 months, the manufacturer of equipment for pressure vessels and hot water tanks in the chemical and petrochemical industry has seen a marked decline in orders, said Webb, sales director. The worsening expectations of sanctions against Russia in the West have led to MWL losing two successive export contracts with Russia.

Ministry of Commerce International Trade Liu Huaqin, deputy director of the European Economic Cooperation Research Institute, said: "the negative effects of the economic sanctions imposed by the first few rounds of the West are showing up in Germany."

Russia is a brand of German sports. Adidas The main market of Adidas stores. Affected by sanctions, the company recently lowered its profit forecast on the grounds that the Russian market is weak. Its stock has fallen nearly 40% so far this year.

Rhine metal, a German military industrial unit, said that sanctions against Russia would have a negative impact on the company's 2014 performance. The German government cancelled a large order from Russia and the company. The company's share price has fallen by 5% since the company issued an alert.

After last autumn and winter geopolitical tensions began, Russia imposed sanctions on European Union pork and German cheese. In 2013, the German agricultural and food industry exported to Russia only 1 billion 600 million euros, down 14% from 2012.

Against this background, the German economy's response to Russian sanctions is becoming more and more sensitive. Recently, it is reported that Russia is considering further retaliatory measures, including the closure of Russian airspace to European and American Airlines, which will lead to an increase of $30 thousand in the cost of European airlines' flights. News, German Lufthansa shares fell by nearly 3%.

Interest is difficult to give up.

Li Chao, an assistant research fellow at the Institute of modern international relations in China, pointed out that the trade tightness of Europe and Russia is much higher than that of the United States, especially Germany and Russia. Mechanical equipment Import and export. Germany is also one of Russia's main source of investment, so sanctions bring the greatest harm to German enterprises.

Statistics show that Germany is the third largest trading partner of Russia, with the total foreign trade volume reaching 76 billion 500 million euros in 2013, of which Russia's exports to Germany account for 40 billion 500 million euros, which is slightly higher than that of Germany's exports to Russia 36 billion euros. But Germany has nearly 40% of its crude oil and natural gas from Russia, resulting in its dependence on Russia in the energy sector.

According to statistics from the European Union of natural gas industries, Germany imported 37% of its total annual consumption from Russia in 2013, and imports ranked first among EU countries. In addition, the EU exported 120 billion euros to Russia last year, and nearly 1/3 came from Germany. Many of these commodities may be subject to new sanctions, because a large number of manufacturing products from Germany can be used in defense and energy industries.

According to the data released by the German Chamber of Commerce, there are more than 6000 German companies operating in Russia, more than the total sum of Russian enterprises in other EU countries, and about 300 thousand jobs directly depend on exports to Russia.

German business association chairman Vance (Vance store) Lai Ben believes that according to the current western and Russian sanctions, estimated that Germany's exports to Russia could lose 4 billion euros in 2014, and exports to Ukraine could be reduced by 1 billion 500 million euros.

　 Inevitable choice

Since it is a mutual interest chain, why bother with each other? Besides, Germany's influence on the European Union's political economy also has the ability to impose sanctions on Russia.

In this regard, Liu Huaqin explained that the sudden Malaysia Airlines crash incident changed the German "control" the pace of sanctions against Europe and Russia. She said that unlike the United States' initiative, Germany has been cautious in the EU's sanctions against Russia. The EU has also been concerned about the internal disagreement and the relationship between Europe and Russia. However, the Malaysian Airlines crash has pushed Germany and the whole Europe to a humanitarian high point, thus achieving a reunification beyond economic interests.

Looking back on the incident, we will find that the German people did not feel good about severe sanctions in the early economic interest. In March 13th, a survey conducted by the German Russian Foreign Trade Association showed that only 24% of people believed that sanctions would help to solve the Crimea crisis. Just a week after the crash of Malaysia Airlines in July 17th, German Chancellor Merkel also called on EU leaders to exercise restraint and give more time to investigate Malaysia Airlines air crash before expanding sanctions against Russia. But after July 20th, Germany's position on sanctions against Russia changed. First, Merkel expressed support for the new sanctions against Russia as soon as possible through the spokesman. Then, in July 26th and 27th, German government ministers also issued such statements.

Behind the abrupt change in Germany's attitude, a poll from Der Spiegel may be more revealing. Research shows that 52% of the respondents agreed to strengthen sanctions against Russia, even if Germany suffered a "loss of jobs" threat.

But even so, the EU still has room for sanctions against Russia. The US National Public Radio (NPR) believes that although the EU has upgraded its economic sanctions against Russia, it still has room for improvement. Since 30% of the EU's natural gas is supplied by Russia, the sanctions are not targeted at Russia's natural gas industry, only for the oil industry. At present, Russian state-owned banks can still carry out short-term financing within the European Union (90 days), so that Russian financial institutions will not suddenly "shock".