Almost two months after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in violation of international law and the fifth EU sanctions package, companies in the electrical and digital industry continue to support the political measures taken. Three out of four member companies consider the sanctions to be appropriate, and one in five could even imagine tougher measures. Only three percent consider the sanctions to be too far-reaching.

The results of a recent ZVEI member survey also make it clear that every second company is directly affected by the sanctions against Russia. "Our survey shows that many companies are even over-compliant with the sanctions," explains Wolfgang Weber, Chairman of the ZVEI Executive Board, "and hardly export any goods to Russia and Belarus."

There are several reasons for this "over-compliance". "On the one hand, restrictions on logistics and financial transactions have blocked business that would still have been possible. Secondly, many companies were and continue to be under pressure from employees, customers and other Western stakeholders," Weber continues.

It is therefore a good thing that the new sanctions packages are increasingly closing loopholes for non-humanitarian products. The export sanctions could also send an even stronger political and economic signal to Russia - and ease the pressure on the debate about a gas embargo.

Secure energy supply essential

The member survey clearly shows that companies are very concerned about securing their energy supply. Although the industry is only energy-intensive in a few sub-sectors, such as the manufacture of cables, batteries and semiconductors, there is a high level of dependency on a secure gas supply in these areas in particular. For two out of five companies, a gas freeze would currently lead to significant production restrictions.

In view of the sharp rise in energy prices, a majority of companies (62%) expect the German government to provide subsidies to cushion the increased costs. Weber: "The aid package put together by the German government last week is a step in the right direction, but it must now reach companies quickly and be open to all affected sectors."

Over 60% of companies fear that the existing difficulties in the supply chain will worsen again in the coming weeks, although companies have succeeded to a large extent in increasingly covering their other raw material requirements from regions other than Russia. Additional bottlenecks are expected, particularly for stainless steel and other metals, wood, chemical products and semiconductors. Other concerns are the shortage of container capacities.