German firms are following this with interest. Many of them appealed to the Eastern Committee of the German economy in recent months, because of the sanctions they suffered heavy losses in turnover. During the recent survey of this union among more than 110 companies having business ties with Russia, 57% said they would step-by-step cancel the policy of sanctions against Russia. And 37% in general demanded their immediate and unconditional cancellation. Only 5% spoke for the preservation of sanctions.
Politically, opinions on this subject are very different. The Greens would prefer that the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany be stopped. "This is one of the few items that will really hurt Russia," said the "green" boss Robert Habeck earlier this week. The chairman of the land organization of the CDU in Thuringia, Mike Mohring (Mike Mohring), on the contrary, advocates the easing of economic sanctions. In Thuringia, companies that do business with Russia lost up to 30% of their turnover. "In the long term, this is unacceptable," Moring said.
The requirements for softer handling of Russia have become so loud that the Eastern Committee of the German economy feels obliged to point out the priority of politics. "Sanctions exist, and the economy adheres to them," states Wolfgang Büchele, chairman of the association. However, he also said: "If there is significant progress in the peaceful Minsk process, sanctions should be gradually eased."
According to an analysis published in December by the Kiel Institute of World Economics, sanctions do damage not only to Russia, but to the EU and the United States. Only until the end of 2015 - up to this point the analysis in Kiel has been made - the drop in commodity exchange amounts to a total of 114 billion dollars. True, Russia loses more than half here. However, the balance, about $ 44 billion, affects countries that imposed sanctions, with Germany in particular: the institution estimates the losses in that country at over $ 17 billion.
It's not even so much about the products that German firms can no longer export to Russia, says Julian Hinz, an analyst at the Institute of World Economics. "The main problem is financing." Firms almost never get loans from banks, if it comes to transactions with Russia. Financial institutions fear that they may be threatened by other damage, for example, in transactions with US clients.
No matter how difficult the exchange of goods with Russia occurs, if it is a question of direct investment on the spot, Western companies "are in principle again in a positive mood," says the chief of the Eastern Committee, Buechel. Many have recently made significant efforts to implement on-site production in Russia and create their own supply networks there.
Germany has seemingly had a love-hate relationship with Russia for centuries, seeing in them an export market and needing raw materials in return.