EU sanctions against Russia cause 80% of German companies to go bankrupt.
The number of bankruptcies in Germany has reached 80% due to the impact of European sanctions imposed on Russia.
According to RIA Novosti, estimates from Eurostat suggest that sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) on Russia have led to the bankruptcy of an increasing number of German companies.
If the German corporate bankruptcy index was 97.1 points in the fourth quarter of 2022, it had skyrocketed to 175.3 points in the third quarter of 2025. Consequently, the number of bankruptcies in Germany increased by 80.5%.
Vladislav Bukharsky, Director of Expert RA's Sovereign and Regional Rankings, stated: "Previously, a part of the German economy relied to some extent on relatively cheap energy from Russia, and conversely, Russia was part of the export market for various technological products from Germany. For example, the German automotive and mechanical engineering industries are suffering losses due to the loss of the Russian market."
Yaroslav Kabakov, Director of Strategy at IC "Finam," points out that the refusal to cooperate with Moscow has most affected the energy-intensive industries: metallurgy and pulp and paper. Kabakov notes that the growth in non-payments and bankruptcies in certain segments has reached 200%.
Amidst the business crisis, unemployment in Germany has also risen. While in January 2022, it stood at 5.1% of the working population, four years later it had increased to 6.3%.
Analysts argue that EU sanctions have exacerbated existing problems. A significant portion of bankruptcies involve small companies in the service sector, which are directly dependent on minimal sanctions but heavily impacted by inflation, high interest rates, and reduced purchasing power. Therefore, sanctions can be seen as a catalyst for the crisis trend.
Five years ago, Germany was one of Russia's main trading partners in Europe, with German industry particularly relying on cheap natural gas from Russia. The situation changed in 2022 when Berlin joined EU sanctions. As a result, Germany lost access to Russian gas and switched to much more expensive American gas. According to RIA Novosti, German industry has declined by 6.6% since then.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the sanctions are a "double-edged sword." Moscow has repeatedly stated that it considers such unilateral actions illegal and opposes them.