Dutch companies exported more than 5 billion euros to Russia last year
More than three thousand Dutch companies exported more than 5 billion euros worth of goods and services to Russia last year. Two thousand companies imported goods from Russia. This is evident from figures published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Monday.
The main industries exporting to Russia are wholesale trade and brokerage, transportation and the chemical industry. Compared to trade with the rest of the world, relatively many large companies trade with Russia. For exports this is almost 85 percent, for imports it is more than 90 percent. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has restricted trade with Russia with sanctions.
It is difficult to predict exactly how the sanctions will affect the Dutch economy, says Natascha Wagner, professor of International Economics at Radboud University. Still, she doesn’t think the economy will suffer badly. “The sanctions can certainly hurt individual companies, but Russia’s five billion euros is only a small part of total Dutch exports. Moreover, external shocks can also bring about positive change in the economy, such as innovation.”
According to Statistics Netherlands, almost 5 percent of companies that export to the Netherlands depend on Russia for more than half of their trade value. „For them, the sanctions are a big bummer”, says Wagner. “We definitely need to see how they are doing, and whether they need support.”
Wagner expects that technology companies in particular will find new customers easily. “The computer industry was dealing with too much demand.” She thinks that the flower sector, a major exporter to Russia according to Statistics Netherlands, is going to have a hard time. “If they start exporting more to other countries, the price will drop automatically. But don’t underestimate the power of a strong economy to absorb blows.”