BERLIN, March 30. /TASS/. Three quarters of German companies located in the eastern part of the country reported that they are experiencing difficulties as a result of the disconnection of a number of Russian banks from the international system of interbank payments SWIFT. This is according to a poll conducted by the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, which was released on Wednesday.
The survey, conducted between March 11 and 25, involved 127 German industrial companies. More than half of them work in Russia, as well as in Ukraine and Belarus. The survey reveals that most serious economic impact was caused by the restriction of payment transactions after a number of Russian banks had been disconnected from SWIFT. This resulted in difficulties in logistics and supply chains, as well as problems caused by the devaluation of the ruble. To mitigate this kind of impact on companies, the committee said, it is essential that the federal government quickly support financial liquidity, for example by bridging loans and compensation payments.
According to the survey, for three-quarters of all respondents (73%), the biggest problem currently is the restrictions on payment transactions, followed by difficulties with logistics (55%) and the devaluation of the ruble (50%). The consequences of the events in Ukraine, the imposition of sanctions against the Russian Federation and the response from Russia can also be felt in supply chains and in the form of non-payments and problems with suppliers. Only 28% of the surveyed companies do not consider themselves affected by the imposition of sanctions.
It is also stressed that German companies have invested 25 billion euros as direct investments in Russia, and another 3.5 billion have been allocated to Ukraine. Prior to the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Germany's trade turnover with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine amounted to almost 70 billion euros per year, the committee noted.
On February 24, Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.
In response Western countries introduced both personal and sectoral sanctions, including those related to public debt and the banking sector of the Russian Federation. In particular, the European Union disconnected seven Russian banks from the SWIFT: VTB, Rossiya Bank, Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank and VEB.RF. The European Commission stressed that Brussels is ready to add new banks to this list if necessary.