German corporations in Eastern Europe have urged Berlin to take on more risk and strengthen security for business in Ukraine, notably transport.
Michael Harms, managing director of the German Eastern Business Association, said logistics businesses are struggling with transport liability insurance because reinsurers have left the market.
Harms stated the federal government “shouldn’t free corporations of business risk but should support with imaginative instruments.”
The association’s request follows German Economics Minister Robert Habeck’s vow in Kyiv this week to secure German firms’ participation in Ukraine’s rehabilitation. Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine inflicted massive destruction.
The organization helps 350 Eastern European members in 29 countries.
“Business representatives argue that these investment guarantees are important to get investment choices past the board of directors,” said Harms, who traveled with Habeck to Kyiv. Ministry sources reported around 20 investment guarantee applications.
Harms also called Kyiv’s pressure on enterprises to leave Russia “not prudent” and called for “reliable, stable and transparent framework conditions.”
According to company comments, corruption has improved since 2014.
“The Ukrainian leadership is youthful, Western-educated, and no longer has a ‘secret goal’,” he stated.
