More Than 400 German Companies Closed Their Doors in Russia In 2015
According to the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce report released on January 20th, the number of German companies, together with their branches and representative offices, was reduced by 7% in Russia last year.
According to the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, six thousand companies with German capital were registered in Russia in 2014. However, in 2015, their number dropped to 5583, more than 400 fewer than the previous year.
Meanwhile, the number of legal entities with German representation has been reduced by only 4.6% while their branches and representative offices were reduced by nearly 24%. Experts from the Chamber of Commerce believe that such a sharp reduction can be related to the new re-registration procedures for branches and representative offices. This new procedure took effect on the 1st of January 2015 and led to serious procedural difficulties and groundless refusals.
At the same time, the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce claimed that the main causes of the reduction of German companies are the deterioration of the economic situation in Russia in 2014-2015 and the devaluation of the ruble, which has reduced the purchasing power of Russian customers.