Saudis Halt Orders From German Companies

[Mystic Wanderer]

It appears Merkel chose the wrong side and now she's backed into a corner. They may have to clean out all the corrupt leaders to survive, which I believe is the plan. 
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Well this is going to hurt: Der Spiegel reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has ordered that all government contracts cease being awarded to German companies in what's being interpreted as an aggressive punitive measure after a year of already deteriorating Saudi-German relations and as Germany has expressed its plan to stick by the Iran nuclear deal.

Der Spiegel cites companies with long-term partnerships inside Saudi Arabia as already being impacted; however, there's still little clear confirmation on how far reaching the move will be: "Citing no sources, it said the move was likely to hit major companies such as Siemens, Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim as well as carmaker Daimler,"according to Reuters, citing the Der Spiegel report published late Friday.

Germany generated 2017 exports worth 6.6 billion euros ($7.7 billion), according to official German figures, and is deeply invested in multiple major Saudi infrastructural projects, as Der Spiegal explains, "Some 800 German companies are active in the country, and 200 have offices in Saudi Arabia with a total of 40,000 employees," which could be severely impacted, depending on how far the Saudis are willing to go. 


King Salman, right, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to the kingdom in 2017, via Reuters.

This includes German mega-conglomerate Siemens which just signed a contract worth around $400 million to deliver five gas turbines for a new Saudi power plant, and Daimler, which secured an order to supply 600 Mercedes‑Benz Citaro buses from Saudi bus operator SAPTCO.

German sources privy to the Saudis' opaque maneuvering say the situation is dire, as Reuters relates:

"For Germans, the doors in Riyadh have suddenly been closed," says one experienced businessman in the Saudi capital. Meetings with delegations from Germany that were set up before the crisis are being canceled. "That hurts," says Oliver Oehms of the German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs in Riyadh.

And it appears the healthcare sector has already been feeling the pressure:

A senior German businessman in Saudi Arabia, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters on Friday that especially the healthcare sector was currently feeling added scrutiny when applying for Saudi tenders.
“They have even been asking: Where are the products coming from? Are they made in Germany? Do you have other manufacturing sites? And as soon as this is made in Germany, they have been rejecting any German applications for tender,” the person said.

There are significant rumors suggesting MbS is acting out of personal malice and vindictiveness toward Germany. Relations between the two countries become strained after a series of critical remarks by German officials over Saudi Arabia's overreach in Lebanese politics — where last November's Hariri affair left German leaders generally faulting MbS for kidnapping the Lebanese prime minister and holding him against his will. 

At that time then-Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had criticized the Saudis for spreading "political adventurism" in the Middle East, causing the Saudis to withdraw their ambassador to Germany, who still hasn't returned. 
Chart via Trading Economics. Data source: Federal Statistical Office, Germany.


It further appears this could be the first major economic blow to European countries not willing to stand by Trump's decision to pull the US from the JCPOA. Shortly after President Trump announced the US pull-out, Iran's President Rouhani promised that his country would continue abiding by its terms only if Iranian businesses could continue operating normally in their dealings with EU countries.

Read the full article: Saudis Halt Orders From German Companies

[Wallfire]

I see this as a warning to Europe, let in more muslims or the same will happen to you. This is not good.