/ world today news/ About half of the German companies polled by one of the largest economic think tanks in the country, the Ifo Institute, want the EU to lift sanctions against Russia, as the restrictions have severely affected the German industrial sector.
The punitive sanctions have led to a greater bureaucratic burden that hinders doing business with Russia for nearly 40 percent of the 862 companies surveyed by the Munich-based institute, while more than a third of them have had to deal with additional controls.
In addition, around 20 percent of businesses said they felt the impact of trade bans and restrictions on the financial sector, according to the Ifo results.
“Manufacturers of machinery and cars, the chemical and electrical sectors and logistics are most often affected,” wrote Yasmin Gröschl, deputy director of the Ifo Center for International Economics, and her co-author Feodora Teti.
According to the data of the Ifo Institute, the manufacturers of machinery and cars are the most affected, with nearly 60% and 40% of respondents noting the negative impact of the sanctions, respectively.
Geographically, companies operating in East Germany are more affected than West German companies, the institute’s survey shows.
Almost half of all participants said they could benefit from the lifting of European Union sanctions against the Russian Federation.
In addition, most of the nearly 200 managers polled by Ifo said they were opposed to halting construction on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which faces multiple obstacles due to threats of US sanctions.
German business leaders also noted that they were affected by Russia’s drive to substitute imported goods, a policy introduced by the Russian government in response to Western restrictions against the country.
Other issues cited by firms when dealing with Russia include currency fluctuations, political and economic uncertainty, loss of trust and reputation, and increased competition from third countries.
Punitive measures targeting Russia were initially introduced by Brussels in 2014 due to events in Ukraine and have since been repeatedly extended and renewed. Moscow responded with counter-sanctions, banning a number of European products.
Translation: SM
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