Russia has become a strategic market for thousands of European companies, and sanctions put EU business at risk, Philippe Pegorier, President of Alstom Russia , told RT at a Sochi Investment Forum.
“Sanctions against Russia are de facto sanctions against
European business,” Philippe Pegorier, President of Alstom
Russia, and Chairman of the Association of European Business in
Russia (AEB), the largest foreign business association in the
country, told RT over the weekend at an international business
forum in Sochi .
“We don’t need the government or the EU to decide where our
priorities are, for us, for many European companies, Russia is a
strategy partner and we will remain a strategy partner,” he
said.
Pegorier has warned that sanctions against Russia could cause
300,000 layoffs in Germany and at least 100,000 in France.
Trade between Russia and Europe stands at about $330 billion
annually and Russia is Europe’s third largest trade partner. The
EU is Russia’s largest trading partner, as it sources about half
of its imports from the 28-nation bloc. However, with sanctions,
that is changing.
EU companies often operate in Russia; Germany has 6,200
businesses active in Russia. Europe provides 75 percent of
foreign investment in Russia, according to Pegorier.
Relations between Russia and EU have hit a new low over the
Ukraine crisis, Pegorier said.
“The EU and Russia do not understand each other for the time
being, but business is a link,” he told RT.
“We never had sanctions which we are so integrated. Russia is
not Iran, Iraq, not Syria, not Libya. We are completely
integrated.”
Pegorier also serves as the Chairman of the Association of
European Business in Moscow, and said that his company will
comply with the law, but will have to adapt. One of the ways is
to localize and bring more production into Russia.
The latest round of EU and US sanctions targeted Russia’s oil and
gas sector, finance, and weapons industries. Companies on the
sanctions list cannot raise long-term capital on European or US
markets.
The 2014 Sochi International Investment Forum discussed how to
make the Russian economy more competitive, especially under the
threat of sanctions, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said
on Monday, ITAR-ITASS reported.
At the forum over $15.5 billion in contracts were signed.
Article source: http://rt.com/business/189648-sanctions-russia-de-facto-alstrom/
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