Siemens and Volkswagen call on German government to compensate for investments in Russia

These are the railway equipment manufacturers Siemens Mobility and Volkswagen Bank. The companies explained their request by their intention to use the German government's guarantee mechanism.

"Like many other German companies, Siemens has secured its investments in Russia by resorting to the investment guarantee instrument from the federal government," said a Siemens Mobility representative.

The Volkswagen Bank representative also noted that the compensation discussions are ongoing, but declined to give any further details.

Earlier, the energy company Wintershall Dea applied to the government with a similar request. A representative of the German Ministry of Finance confirmed that Wintershall Dea AG had used the investment guarantee mechanism. At the same time, negotiations on "possible scenarios of damage" have been ongoing for a long time.

It is reported that as of mid-November, the German government received 16 requests from 8 companies that decided to use investment guarantees due to their withdrawal from Russia for a total of EUR 2.8 billion.

International business has left the Russian market en masse

After Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia, several foreign brands decided to sell their businesses in Russia.

Recently, the Japanese retailer Uniqlo refused to lease premises for all its stores in Russia. Thus, the company stopped doing business in the country.

Also, one of the largest insurance groups in Europe, Uniqa, sold its business in Russia and thus left the market.

Later it was reported that almost all Finnish companies had left the Russian market, with only two percent of Finnish export companies still doing business in the aggressor country.