“I was wrong about Putin”

If there is a Mister Russia of the German economy, his name would probably be Klaus Mangold. No one was as committed to German-Russian relations, no one pushed the maxim of change through trade as much, and no one still has better contacts with Russian companies than the long-standing chairman of the German Economic Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. Such qualities have been under suspicion since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In fact, the 78-year-old presents himself in conversation as a reformed man. He admits that he made mistakes in his assessment of the Putin system, advocates tough sanctions and demands that the business community must also make its contribution to reappraising German-Russian relations.