MOSCOW, July 31 (RIA Novosti) – Western economic sanctions undermine employment and stability not only in Russia but also in the European Union and cash-strapped Ukraine, the chairman of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said Thursday.
“Business is creating wealth, employment and stability. And economic sanctions therefore undermine employment, the creation of wealth and stability. If we hit Russia, we also target employment in the European Union and employment in Ukraine, taking into account its trade volumes with Russia. If so, we only further destabilize Ukraine,” Philippe Pegorier told International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya.
The businessman said Russian orders provide 300,000 people with jobs in Germany and around 100,000 jobs in France, and for the entire European Union the total could be “almost one million.”
“The European leadership will have to pay for the unemployed,” Pegorier said.
“Here in Russia we have investment, our enterprises. That’s why the EU and US sanctions against Russia are sanctions against us, European entrepreneurs. It turns out that the blow is dealt to us by our own people and sanctions against us are adopted by our own governments,” the AEB chairman said.
The EU Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) agreed Tuesday on a new package of sanctions targeting Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors, followed swiftly by additional US penalties against Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that economic sanctions would be mutually destructive in the modern, interconnected global economy.
The Association of European Businesses (AEB) represents and promotes the interests of European companies conducting business in and with Russia, and performs activities to improve the Russian business and trade environment and promote economic integration and partnership between Russia and the EU.
