Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz reports «German economic news» doubts the value of EU sanctions. This is a small insult to Brussels. The reason for this statement: exports to Russia from Austria fell by 25%.
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Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz met with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday. One of the issues of the negotiations was the issue of sanctions against Russia introduced at the outbreak of the civil war in Donbass.
Kurz spoke about the good relations that link Russia and Austria in culture and business. As an example, he cited the Sochi Olympics, in which an Austrian company received lucrative contracts.
Last year, due to anti-Russian sanctions, there was a massive decline in bilateral trade. Exports to Russia fell by 25% and will continue to fall if sanctions drag on. Up to 45 thousand Austrians are at risk of losing their jobs because of these sanctions. Also, much fewer Russian tourists come to Austria. That is why Austria confidently declares the harm of sanctions.
Let us recall that Austrian companies suffer losses not only from the decline in trade with Russia due to the Ukrainian civil war, but also direct losses in Ukraine itself due to economic instability. Over the year, the Ukrainian branch of the Austrian bank Raiffeisen doubled loss, which in the first quarter of 2015 amounted to UAH 1,840 billion.