Seven days after the Russian invasion of the small neighboring country, several thousand people - civilians and soldiers alike - are dead and parts of the country have been severely devastated. In comparison, the consequences for the economy are trivial - and yet noticeable. Business associations were the first to comment on this.

One important aspect is the interruption of business relationships due to the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia. Thilo Brodtmann, Managing Director of the VDMA, spoke yesterday of several hundred million euros in export volume lost by German mechanical engineering companies in Russia alone.

The Europäische Ladungs-Verbund Internationaler Spediteure AG (ELVIS) and the Mittelstandsverband Mittelstand.BVMW pointed out a less obvious problem: Driver shortages. According to the toll survey, Eastern European transport fleets handle large parts of truck traffic in Germany. It is not possible to precisely quantify the proportion of Ukrainian drivers, as the Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG) does not record their mileage separately. Our sister magazine "materialfluss" reported on this yesterday.

Cyber attacks

It is still unclear what impact the cyber war that accompanies the conflict in the shadows will have. Russia is known for its corresponding capabilities; at the same time, however, non-state actors such as the hackers of "Anonymous" have also embarked on the warpath - with unforeseeable consequences.

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota was forced to shut down all of its Japanese plants after a hacker attack paralyzed production at a key supplier, component manufacturer Kojima Press. In Germany, a hacker attack that coincided with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine paralyzed the remote maintenance function for around 5,800 turbines installed at the German wind turbine manufacturer. Although these have automatic, autonomous maintenance routines, they can now only be checked directly on site - in case of doubt, in the middle of the North Sea.