- In the EU Commission one is “deeply concerned” about the situation in Russia.
- The economic crisis complicates negotiations on an extension of the sanctions.
- The Kremlin could use the current crisis to give again with vehemence the West for all the debt.
By Stefan Braun, Daniel Brössler and Markus Zydra
The deep fall of the ruble collapsed in the European Union a dilemma. For months, the EU had a bet that economic pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to relent in Ukraine crisis. Now the fear of the consequences of an economic collapse in Russia comes to the fore. The economic situation in Russia will be part of a strategic debate over the eastern neighborhood during the EU summit this Thursday, was informed from the environment by Council President Donald Tusk. But the emphasis should concern given the poor economic situation in Ukraine are, which is likely to be exacerbated by the ruble crisis in the neighboring country.
“Very concerned”
In the EU Commission expressed it is “very concerned”. No one has an interest, “that Russia plunges into a deep depression.” In Brussels, but also pointed out that not primarily the sanctions against Russia have set the ruble under pressure, but falling commodity prices. A tightening of sanctions is, apart from measures against the economy of the annexed by Russia Crimea, not on the agenda of the summit.
Your Forum rubles at record low: Flips Russia’s economy?
in the fight against rising inflation in the country and the decline of the ruble, the Russian central bank had significantly raised its benchmark interest rate. After a short rest the currency crashed but again. Can Russia get out of this crisis?
Tusk itself faces the challenge of holding together the EU in sanctions question. 2015 run in three waves of the sanctions adopted against Russia. The already difficult negotiations to renew likely to be complicated by the economic situation in Russia even further. A number of countries from the South and the East of the EU had recently agreed sanctions only reluctantly.
Even in the federal government growing concern. “The situation is really serious, ” said a spokesman for German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. For weeks Steinmeier warns total Europe and the West should not try, Russia wrestle economically. He fears in particular that the policy of the Kremlin in would rather continue to harden such a situation. For the economic situation is made responsible in Berlin and Brussels were mostly Putin. “The real problem of Moscow is the dramatic loss of confidence in the policy of Russia ” said a senior official of the Süddeutsche Zeitung . Reference is made to capital flight from Russia and the elimination of investments there.
German companies under pressure
Nevertheless, it is feared in the Berlin government leaders that the Kremlin the current crisis could use to give again with vehemence the West for all the debt.
“We are witnessing a significant worsening of the situation for German companies in Russia,” said GCIC foreign trade director Volker Treier the SZ. In a recent survey of DIHK at 300 German companies in Russia, declared twelve percent of the respondents said that they would withdraw from Russia, if the situation continues to remain so precarious. The company suffer for two reasons under the ruble weakness. First, the local revenue are in euro worth much less than before. On the other Russian customers ask less after. German exports to Russia have declined by Industry estimates this year by 20 percent.
The supervisors at the European Central Bank do not believe that the banking sector in Europe will take a lot of damage by the ruble crisis. are bad hardly affected. “We think that the markets will be nervous for a few days, maybe a few weeks,” said the head of supervision, Daniele Nouy, on Wednesday in the French radio station “Radio Inter”. “But we think that the debt of Russian companies in the banks have a dimension that should be no reason to fear problems.”
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