A special anniversary is coming up on December 17th.

The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations will then be 70 years old.

Under normal circumstances, preparations for the celebrations would now be in full swing.

But nothing has been normal since the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Not only SPD politicians have to justify these days that they have maintained such close contacts with Russia in recent years.

The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, which has helped so many companies to do business in Russia over the past few decades, is now also viewed critically.

Julia Loehr

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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Does this very special association – there are no separate committees for the other points of the compass – still have a future in view of the changed world situation?

This question has been asked all the more since last Tuesday.

The Eastern Committee had to announce the resignation of its chairman.

Oliver Hermes wants to concentrate on the work in his company, the Dortmund pump manufacturer Wilo.

Hermes had led the Eastern Committee since September 2019.

The usual term of office is four years.

His departure also came as a surprise to leading figures in the Eastern European Committee.

"Companion and Pioneer"

Managing director Michael Harms tries to dispel the impression that this could be the beginning of the end of the Eastern Committee.

“Of course these are turbulent times for us too.

We will discuss our future orientation," he says in an interview with the FAZ Harms, but also emphasizes: "We were never a Russia committee, but are responsible for 29 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, which are important markets for the German economy , including Ukraine.”

The Eastern Committee was founded in 1952 on the initiative of business.

For all their ties to the United States and the other western allies, the companies also wanted to develop economic relations with the countries of the Eastern Bloc.

The then Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (CDU) was critical of the company's plans, but Economics Minister Ludwig Erhard supported them.

In the end, the position of business prevailed.

The East Committee stayed, economic relations came.

And even if some today downplay the political influence of the association: The fact that it existed is proven by the quote from the long-standing Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP), who described the role of the Eastern Committee at its sixtieth with the words "companion and pioneer". .

Six trade associations are pulling the strings

As recently as January of this year, the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations had plans for a virtual economic talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin - which provoked criticism in view of the already obvious aggression.

How to proceed now?

"I would not fundamentally question the principle of change through trade because it has failed in Russia for the time being," says Harms.

It finally worked in other countries, he argues, referring to the EU with its 27 member states.

"But we need clear guidelines for dealing economically with autocracies," adds Harms.

He does not yet want to comment on what these guard rails should look like.

The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations invited Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala to speak at the reception after the next General Assembly on June 8th.

Countries like Poland and Hungary should also play a stronger role in the future.

According to Harms, another focus of the content-related work will be the reconstruction of Ukraine.

There are six business associations behind the East Committee – BDI, BGA, Bankenverband, DIHK, GDV and ZDH.

So far, none of them have publicly questioned the organization's future.

The most recent list of members included around 350 companies, a number that Harms says has not changed significantly since the beginning of the war.

Companies and associations finance the work of the association with membership fees.

"I don't know anyone who has resigned because they are dissatisfied with the work of the Eastern Committee," says Harms.

"The number of members is stable." In June, even new members would be accepted.

The process for the search for a new chairman has begun in the office in Berlin.

It cannot be ruled out that there will be a successor to Oliver Hermes by the beginning of June, but it is unlikely.

It is conceivable that Cathrina Claas-Mühlhäuser will initially take over the chair on an interim basis.

She has been Hermes' representative for the past few years and is familiar with the subject.

By the fall, a commission should have found the next regular chairperson – or the first chairperson.

Most German companies have stopped doing business in Russia since the beginning of the war.

But not all of them have finally sold their shares in the local subsidiaries, and some of the operations are just suspended.

According to von Harms, a resumption of economic relations is only conceivable under one premise: “The prerequisite for this is a stable, fair peace solution.

A mere ceasefire is not enough.” There is still nothing to indicate when and how such a peace solution could succeed.

But even in the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, they are not giving up hope.