However, German companies more than make up for losses in the Russian Federation as well as Belarus, thanks to growing trade with Poland, the Czech Republic and other EU members in Eastern Europe. At the same time, the importance of economic cooperation with Central Asian and South Caucasian countries is growing rapidly, the largest increase in percentage terms being recorded in the cooperation with Azerbaijan.
These are the main conclusions of the German foreign trade statistics for the 1st half of 2022, presented by the Eastern Committee of the German Economy (Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft). This influential business organization lobbies for the interests of German companies doing business with 29 former socialist countries in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet states. The Eastern Committee has direct access to the database of the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) and the exclusive right to publish statistics relating to the region in which it works.
In the statistics presented, it is noteworthy that in the 1st half of the year, Germany increased imports from Azerbaijan by 342% and from Kazakhstan by more than 92%. Azerbaijan’s supply has increased from €209 million last year to more than €922 million this year. If in the first six months of last year Kazakhstan exported products worth €1.65 billion to the German market, this time deliveries for the same period totaled €3.17 billion.
The turnover with the other two countries of the South Caucasus, Georgia and Armenia, has also increased remarkably.
“It can be assumed that this region will also benefit from the desire of companies to find alternatives to Russia now,” believes the Eastern Committee on the German Economy.
