High electricity costs continue to wreak havoc in Europe. The UK corporate sector has seen companies go bankrupt rapidly due to economic problems stemming from the so-called Western economic “sanctions” against Russia.

This is shown by a report from UK Office of National Statistics in the most recent quarterly reports, and where company closing figures are similar to those reported in 2009, following the global financial crisis, are noted.

According to information from the UK agency, 5,629 companies collapsed and went bankrupt across England and Wales during the second quarter of 2022, a figure not seen since the third quarter of 2009, Sputnik reports.

Although this figure is still far from the highest peak recorded during the 2008 crisis, with a total of 6,943 companies closed, the trend for the following months is not encouraging.

UK government statistics show that one in 10 local businesses face a moderate to severe risk of bankruptcy, according to data from August this year.

Although the reasons for the bankruptcy were varied, all of them were related to the difficulties caused by sanctions against Russia for European trade, for supply chains and for energy markets, whose historical inflation has brought some problems to Union authorities. .

According to the ONS, 22% of companies that are at risk of closure are placing electricity rate hikes as their main concern, 7% higher than in February this year. In small companies (from 10 to 49 employees) the percentage increases to 30%.

Other companies say their biggest concerns are their inability to pay debts, rising raw material prices and supply chain disruptions.

According to the UK government, of the more than 5,600 companies that declared bankruptcy, 20% were linked to construction companies, while 14% were concentrated in wholesale and retail companies.

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