Agency Report –
German businesses have criticized EU plans to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine, saying that such a step would have costly consequences, especially for Germany.
“Germany has invested in Russia like no other country. Therefore, it has the most to lose in the planned utilization of Russian central bank funds for arms purchases in favour of Ukraine,” Matthias Schepp, chairman of the German-Russian Chamber of Foreign Trade (AHK) told dpa on Thursday.
Schepp said that assets totalling over €100 billion ($116 billion) are at risk.
German money stuck in Russian accounts
The €100 billion figure refers to the value of German factories and retail chains. However, companies in the energy, pharmaceutical and household appliance sectors, which Moscow has placed under foreign administration, or money Russia has frozen in accounts, are also affected.
Russia has taken control of the Russian subsidiaries of German energy companies Uniper and Wintershall, for example. Moscow presented this as a reaction to the trusteeship of refineries in Germany owned by Russian energy company Rosneft.
Foreign companies that sold their factories in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine ordered by President Vladimir Putin had to deposit the proceeds into a blocked account. They have only limited access to the account – for example, to pay taxes. Officially, however, all these assets still belong to German companies.
Schepp stressed, “It is not in Germany’s and its taxpayers’ interest for these funds to end up in the Kremlin’s coffers.”
