Even wealthy Western European countries were not able to escape the financial and energy crisis caused by the war and the sanctions policy.

Never before have as many companies declared bankruptcy in Europe as in 2022. The most drastic increase took place in the fourth quarter. After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the sanctions policy and the measures of the West prolonging the war caused a profound energy and financial crisis. European countries have practically been torturing themselves for months. Skyrocketing energy bills and high inflation have led to the insolvency of thousands of companies, data put out by Eurostat suggests.

In the fourth quarter, for example, the number of bankruptcies across the European bloc rose by 26.8 per cent compared to the third quarter, setting a new record.

Last year, the number of bankruptcy procedures rose in all quarters on the continent, and somewhat fewer companies were registered. The reason is that companies simply cannot keep up with the war inflation, with the situation threatening the livelihood tens of thousands of families.

Bankruptcy filings increased in all sectors, but were particularly high among companies in the transport and storage sector and the hospitality, restaurant and catering sector, with insolvency filings up by 72.2 and 39.4 per cent respectively. There was also a 29.5 per cent increase in the number of businesses in health and social work.

Even the great powers that were previously considered wealthier cannot escape the damage caused by the war. In France, the overall number of bankruptcies jumped by 50 per cent. Small and medium-sized enterprises filed the highest number of bankruptcies, with a 78 per cent increase in insolvency proceedings, data published by French trade data company Altares reveal.

„When SMEs fail, the whole local economic network is affected. They can no longer pay their suppliers, and thousands of jobs will be lost,”

Thierry Millon, the leader of the study, said.

Brutal figures were also recorded in Belgium, one of the EU’s centres, where the number of bankruptcies rose by 44 per cent year-on-year. Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, described the trend across Europe as „alarming”.

„This is the highest rate of bankruptcies in the EU since this data has been collected. The air to breathe is becoming increasingly tight, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.”

Mr Beyrer said, adding that there were three reasons behind the trend: high energy costs, high material and production costs, and rising labour costs.