Стр. 18 - V

Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Author : B. Zaritsky
Professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Science
(History)
GERMANY has traditionally been and remains a net exporter
of capital. According to UNCTAD estimates, the cumulative
amount of German foreign direct investment abroad (outward
FDI stock) at the end of 2013 was more than double the stock
of foreign direct investment in Germany: $1.7 trillion and $851
billion, respectively.
Increasing competition in global markets compels not only
large, but also many medium-sized German companies to
modify their foreign economic strategy by supplementing tra-
ditional exports of goods with an expansion of production fa-
cilities and distribution networks in other countries.
Increasing investment in research and development abroad is a new trend in Germany.
From 2007 to 2011, its amount increased from EUR 9.5 billion to EUR 14.8 billion, making
up almost half of Germany's private sector spending on R&D within the country (EUR
33.6 billion).
According to Rosstat data, in 2013 Germany maintained its third place among the main
investor countries in terms of foreign direct investment in the Russian economy ($12.7
billion) with a share of 10.1% of total FDI stock, ranking behind Cyprus with a share of
35.5% and the Netherlands with a share of 18.8%.
Today, German business is tapping into almost all Russian regions. The top three most at-
tractive investment destinations are Tatarstan, Kaluga and Ulyanovsk.
For the German engineering industry, for example, Russia is now the fourth largest market
in the world with sales of around EUR 8 billion a year, but only 8% of German companies
in this industry actually manufacture their products in Russian territory.
But in the spring and summer of 2014, the political and economic situation in Russia and
around it changed dramatically. The behavior of investors changed accordingly.
The quarterly reports of German companies show that their business in the Russian market
began to suffer from the depreciation of the ruble and the decline in production long be-
fore the imposition of any Western sanctions.
The pro-Russian lobby in Germany is by no means the most influential one, and the Ger-
man media are on the whole unfriendly. In addition, there are quite a few people in Berlin
who like to play geopolitical games and use the "Ukrainian card" to discredit and weaken
German Investments in Russia