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PRESS RELEASE
How sanctions against Russia would affect German Länder
Munich, 7 March 2014 – Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Bremen, Baden-Württemberg
and Saxony would be the German Länder hit hardest by economic sanctions against
Russia. These are the results of figures released by the Munich-based Ifo Institute on
Wednesday. If imports from Russia are considered in relation to economic output, they
account for 11.5 percent in Saxony-Anhalt and 10.9 percent in Brandenburg. Both Länder receive crude oil from Russia for their refineries in Schwedt and Leuna via the
“Friendship” (“Druschba”) pipeline. These two refineries play a key role in local value
creation and supply Eastern Germany with mineral oil products.
“Germany cannot afford to cease trade with Russia entirely in the short-term because a
good 30 percent of our oil and gas imports come from Russia,” notes Ifo trade expert
Erdal Yalcin. Instead of striving to conclude new trade agreements with the Ukraine,
Moldavia and Georgia that exclude Russia, it is in Germany’s best interest to strike an
economic balance with Russia. “Russia is also being sidelined by the Transatlantic and
Transpacific trade agreements currently under negotiation,” argues Yalcin.
Part of the German economy also depends directly on exports to Russia, which account for 1.5 percent of economic output in Bremen, 1.4 percent in Saxony and 1.3
percent in Baden-Württemberg. German exports to Russia have increased over six fold
since 2000 and have been surpassed only by trade with China. Germany’s exports to
Russia are now worth 36.1 billion euros, or 3.3 percent of German exports.
Attached: Imports from Russia as percent of Länder GDP
For enquiries, please contact: Dr. Erdal Yalcin, Tel: +49 89 9224 – 1420 [email protected]
Next Ifo release date: Credit Constraint Barometer on 31 March
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ifo_Institut
PRESS, PUBLICATIONS, CONFERENCES:
Phone: +49-89-9224-0
Harald Schultz, extn -1218, [email protected]
www.cesifo-group.de
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Imports from Russia as percent of Länder GDP
0.3%
Baden-Württemberg
1.5%
Bavaria
0.0%
Berlin
10.9%
Brandenburg
2.8%
Bremen
3.0%
Hamburg
2.0%
Hessen
Mecklenburg-
1.0%
Vorpommern
0.6%
Lower Saxony
1.2%
North Rhine Westphalia
0.4%
Rhineland-Palatinate
0.5%
Saarland
1.6%
Saxony
11.5%
Saxony-Anhalt
0.4%
Schleswig-Holstein
0.1%
Thüringen
1,5%
Germany
Harald Schultz, Press officer, +49 89 9224 1218, [email protected]
About the Ifo Institute
Information and research is what the Ifo Institute has stood for ever since it was founded in January 1949. The Institute
takes the legal form of a registered association and is recognised as a charitable, non-profit organisation. Ifo is one of
Europe's leading research institutes and is also the economic research institute most frequently cited in the German
media. Thanks to a cooperation agreement, Ifo enjoys close links with the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich
(LMU); and in 2002 it gained the status of an "Institute at the University of Munich". Within the CESifo Group the Ifo
Institute cooperates very closely with the Center for Economic Studies (CES) and CESifo GmbH. CESifo is also the
brand name used to cover the international activities of the entire group.
PRESS, PUBLICATIONS, CONFERENCES:
phone +49-89-9224-0
Harald Schultz, extn -1218, [email protected]
www.cesifo-group.de
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