As with businesses throughout the world, also industry in Eastern Europe has experienced a pandemic battering. The region, however, faces 2021 bruised but hopeful.
Introduction
As COVID-19 spread rapidly throughout the world, it wrecked havoc on emerging and developed economies alike. As governments attempted to contain the virus through a variety of lockdown measures, businesses everywhere experienced reduced consumption and supply-side shocks. In many ways, Eastern Europe reflected the experience felt by countries across the globe, with some nations weathering the pandemic-induced economic storm better than others.
The survey also looks to the future, and a significant proportion of businesses expressed optimism and hope about the coming year. This was most clearly expressed by businesses discussing the future of their domestic economies.
Key takeaways from the report
- 45% of the total value of B2B invoices issued in Eastern Europe remained unpaid at the due date. This compares to last year’s 24% and represents an average increase of 88%.
- The upsurge in late payments has led to a 103-day average DSO in Eastern Europe.
- 59% of the businesses interviewed in Eastern Europe reported a drop in sales was causing severe revenue shortfalls
- 51% reported liquidity shortages and cited the “sudden adversity” of higher credit management costs involved in chasing overdue payments
- Looking forward over the coming months and further, the majority of respondents to our survey in Eastern Europe said they believed their domestic economies would improve
- Businesses in the region were marginally more pessimistic about the outlook for the global economy, while the regional opinion on the outlook for international trade in 2021 was more optimistic than pessimistic
Interested in getting to know more?
For a complete overview of the corporate payment behaviour in Eastern Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, please download the complete report for the region, which gives also insight into the impact of the pandemic-induced economic crisis on the following industries at regional level:
- Agri-food
- Chemicals
- Steel-metals
- ICT/electronics
Survey results for corporate payment behaviour by country (and other industries, including construction, consumer durables, machines, transport, services and construction materials) can be found in individual reports featuring the following countries in Eastern Europe:
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