The telephones of the chambers of trade are ringing off the hook. “We receive emergency calls every day. More and more, industrial craft businesses are collapsing under the weight of current energy prices. Many give up their life’s work and have to declare insolvency,” President of the Chamber of Trades in Erfurt Stefan Lobenstein told the meeting of the Presidents of the Chambers of Trades of the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia (in the eastern part of Germany, the most severely impacted states) which took place on September 9-10, 2022. These are the food trades, textile cleaning, breweries, galvanizers and automotive workshops that would be particularly affected.
The chamber presidents have evaluated the relief package of the Federal government. “The policies are drawn solely from short-term actions. What our businesses need right now are long-term solutions to master the current challenges—the long-term consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the effects of the price explosion for electricity and gas—and to continue to operate in a sustainable and value-creating manner,” emphasized Stefan Lobenstein. Particularly in Thuringia and the new Federal states, small and medium-sized skilled trades enterprises are a supporting pillar of the economy and ensure prosperity with their duties and taxes, “The Federal government cannot afford to put the skilled trades sector at a disadvantage,” says Lobenstein.
