Germany has been reluctant in recent months to impose aggressive sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis. This is because unlike other developed countries including the U.S., Russia is an important trade partner for Germany. Many German companies have large investments in Russia and benefit from selling goods and services to Russia. In return, Russia is one of the major suppliers of oil and gas to Germany. So this mutual dependency is taken into account when German policy makers make their decisions.
From an article in The Local website:
Germany has been criticized for being reluctant to impose tough sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, as it is deemed an important trading partner.
But according to the German Foreign Office trade between the two countries declined by five per cent in 2013 to €76.5 billion – it was €80.5 billion in 2012.
German exports to Russia were worth €36.1 billion and German imports from Russia €40.4 billion.
That made Russia Germany’s eleventh biggest export market and seventh most important importer, according to Destatis.
Russia’s main exports to Germany were oil and natural gas, with around a third of German gas imports coming from the country.
Source: How important is Russia to Germany?, The Local, April 3, 2014
To answer this article title, the following German companies derive a significant amount of revenue from Russia. For example, Adidas has been in business during the days of the former Soviet Union and has over 1,000 stores today in Russia. It generated over 1.0 billion Euros $ in 2012 accounting for over 7% of total sales.
1.Company: adidas AG (ADDYY)
Current Dividend Yield: 2.80%
Sector:Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods
2.Company: Henkel AG & Co KGaA (HENKY)
Current Dividend Yield: 1.81%
Sector: Household Products
3.Company: BASF SE (BASFY)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.24%
Sector: Chemicals
4.Company: Siemens AG (SIEGY)
Current Dividend Yield: 3.54%
Sector:Industrial Conglomerates
5.Company: Volkswagen AG (VLKAY)
Current Dividend Yield: 2.78%
Sector: Auto Manufacturing
6.Company: Volkswagen AG (DDAIF)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.18%
Sector: Auto Manufacturing
7.Company: BMW AG (BAMXF)
Current Dividend Yield: 3.35%
Sector: Auto Manufacturing
8.Company: Beiersdorf AG (BDRFF)
Current Dividend Yield: 1.16%
Sector: Personal Care Products
Overview: Beiersdorf was founded in 1882 and had sales of over EUR 6.0 billion in 2012. The company’s stock is listed on the DAX since 2008. Its brand portfolio includes La Prairie,Nivea, Eucerin, Hansaplast, Labello, Florena, 8×4 and tesa.
Source: Corporate Germany Opposes Sanctions, The Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2014
Note: Dividend yields noted above are as of Oct 3, 2014. Data is known to be accurate from sources used.Please use your own due diligence before making any investment decisions.
Disclosure: Long HENKY
