Companies in trade and industry in particular did business with Russia last year, according to figures from the Central Statistical Office. 3000 Dutch companies have exported goods to the country, and 2000 companies imported products.
For Dutch companies, trade with Russia has become very complicated due to the sanctions, they also notice at the sanctions counter of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). Entrepreneurs can go there with questions about the impact of the sanctions on their business operations.
“We mainly get the question from companies whether they are still allowed to export their products,” says Rinske van den Brink of the RVO. She answers questions from entrepreneurs on the telephone. They also wonder whether they can still do business with a Russian company, because an owner or shareholder is on the sanction list. And there are also concerns about making a payment to or receiving money from Russia.
No money
How hard companies are hit by the sanctions depends on what they trade in, but also on the importance of that trade to their business. Statistics Netherlands shows that almost 5 percent of companies that do business with Russia depend on Russia for more than half of the trade value.
“Exporting to Russia is becoming increasingly difficult, also because payments fail and entrepreneurs therefore do not receive any money. The companies that depend on it are affected,” says Van den Brink. In such a case, the RVO cannot do much except explain how the sanctions work and refer them to authorities.
Medicines and flowers
Most of the trade comes from companies with 250 employees or more. This also includes Dutch subsidiaries of foreign concerns.
For example, medicines and flowers are important products for export. What is taken from Russia is mainly raw materials: oil, coal, iron and steel.
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