ANNUAL REPORT 2011 A.S. CRÉATION TAPETEN AG

possible. On the other hand, there are countries
such as Germany, which are highly competitive
and therefore benefit significantly from the
increased demand, e.g. from the emerging
markets, and which recorded strong capital
spending activity (both spending on plant
and equipment and construction spending).
Accordingly, Germany’s gross domestic product,
which had increased by an impressive 3.7%
already in 2010, rose by another 3.0% in 2011.
As a result, some sectors in Germany reported
sales revenues that exceeded the pre-crisis
levels already in 2011. The major differences
between the euro-zone economies are also
reflected in the jobless rates, which picked
up in countries such as Italy and Spain and
declined in others, above all in Germany. At
10.1%, the jobless rate for the euro-zone as
a whole remained unchanged from the previous
year. In the course of the year, economic activity
in the euro-zone slowed down markedly,
though. Quarterly GDP growth rates declined
and jobless rates picked up. Accordingly, some
economic researchers already stated a mild
recession for the euro-zone at the turn of the
year 2011/2012.
The economy in Russia – A.S. Création’s most
important output market in Eastern Europe –
remained virtually unimpressed by the euro
and sovereign debt crisis in the west. As in the
previous year, Russia benefited from growing
global demand for commodities and energies
and, hence, from rising prices. China has become
Russia’s most important trading partner, as
Chinese demand for Russian commodities and
energies continues to grow. Besides the higher
exports, the fact that consumer spending
picked up against the background of declining
inflation and a lower jobless rate also had a
positive impact on the economy. With GDP
growing by 4.3% in 2011, Russia’s economic
situation in the fiscal year deserves to be called
positive. However, this reduces the pressure
on government officials to push ahead the
transformation of the Russian economy, which
continues to be dominated by commoditybased
sectors (oil, gas, minerals and metals).
In the absence of internationally competitive
industries outside the commodities sector,
Russia risks being hit particularly hard by
another global economic crisis. In the 2009
financial and economic crisis, Russia was the
industrialised country whose GDP dropped most
sharply, namely by 7.9%. Russia’s accession
to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which
was decided on December 16, 2011, should
provide positive stimulation to the Russian
economy. The WTO organises international
trade relationships through binding rules on
the basis of free trade, provides procedures for
settling disputes and monitors and scrutinises
its members’ trade policies and practices. In
particular, trade between the European Union
(EU) and Russia could benefit from lower customs
tariffs and the harmonisation of product
GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT
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