Conflicts – Hanover – Minister: Great economic dangers from the Ukraine war – politics
Hanover (dpa / lni) – Because of the war in Ukraine, Lower Saxony’s Economics Minister Bernd Althusmann sees great dangers for the economy in the state. “If we continue to discuss the whole topic until next year, reality will overtake us and thousands of companies in Lower Saxony and Germany will hit a wall. We have to prevent that,” said the CDU politician in the state parliament on Wednesday. He warned of possible double-digit inflation and an increase in bankruptcies.
Large Lower Saxony companies such as Volkswagen are also affected by the effects, for example due to the lack of deliveries of cable harnesses.
In view of the enormous price increases for fuel, Althusmann also sees dangers for local public transport and school transport. It is unclear how long the diverse range and reliability can be longer under these conditions. The minister called for the temporary reduction in VAT on electricity and gas from 19 to 7 percent.
The Lower Saxony state parliament had extended the latest Corona rescue package for local public transport. “We are once again providing at least 120 million euros from the Corona special fund for this year. In this way, we are making up for the loss of revenue from public transport providers that was caused by fewer passengers during the pandemic,” said SPD transport politician Frank Henning on Tuesday. The money will also be used to secure school transport.
FDP parliamentary group leader Stefan Birkner emphasized on Wednesday: “People need relief in the short term.” For a flat state like Lower Saxony, it’s about people who have to drive to work every day quickly get relief to their to finance the family.
With regard to food security, Agriculture Minister Barbara Otte-Kinast (CDU) recalled that Ukraine is Europe’s grain chamber. The war will leave deep scars worldwide. If Russia and Ukraine disappeared as important exporters, 60 million tons of wheat and 40 million tons of corn could be missing from the world market for several years.
According to the minister, there is grain for around 100 days in the next global warehouses. Feeding the world’s population also depends on there being a harvest again somewhere in the world in these 100 days. Considerable bottlenecks are to be expected as a result of the war in Ukraine.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220323-99-636213/3