How Germans with experience in Russia are expanding contacts with Ukraine

Some German lawyers, consultants, and lobbyists who used to work in Russia have changed their rhetoric and started participating in events on Ukraine and even traveling to Lviv and Kyiv. These people maintained their pro-Russian stance after the annexation of Crimea, and some even after the full-scale invasion. Who are they? LIGA.net explains.

This publication is based on open sources and expert opinions and covers issues of public interest. The article was written in cooperation with analysts of the German organization Policy Network Analytics.

A Russia Supporter from Rödl & Partner

In March 2022, Russian troops approached Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv, and approached the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Mariupol was under siege with no electricity, water, or heating. At that time, Russia had already fired 480 missiles at Ukraine, more than a million people had fled Ukraine, and more than 2,000 civilians had been killed.

In the same month, Andreas Knaul, head of the Russian office of the law firm Rödl & Partner in Moscow, called on German businesses not to flee Putin's empire, the online portal Münchner Merkur reported.

"I warn against over-compliance and over-fulfillment of [sanctions] requirements," Andreas Knaul said during an online conference. – "Many claim that they (German companies – ed.) can no longer talk to Russia. This is, of course, nonsense."

The lawyer, who has been working in Russia since the 1990s and has seen numerous crises, advised German businessmen to transfer their Russian assets to trustees, the newspaper writes.

Andreas Knaul became interested in Russia back in 1980, writes Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung. Back then, he accepted an invitation from the Leningrad Komsomol to celebrate the New Year together.

While working in Russia, Andreas Knaul repeatedly expressed a clear pro-Russian and anti-sanctions position. He said, for example, that the extraterritorial sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian companies are harmful to international trade and business relations. He argued that the sanctions do more harm than good, causing additional legal scrutiny and operational difficulties for companies engaged in international trade with Russia.

In October 2014, Andreas Knaul took part in the conference "Liberal Values and the Conservative Trend in European Politics and Society". He made a presentation in support of free trade and answered questions afterwards. When asked about the sanctions, he called for greater cooperation between the countries: "We should not isolate Russia. On the contrary, we need to accept it with open arms."

In the magazine "100 Questions and Answers about Business in Russia" of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry for 2019/2020, he wrote the following about the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline: "Europe needs energy, the key word is Nord Stream 2. On the other hand, Russia depends on European technologies. It would be a symbiosis of exchange relations along the Lisbon-Vladivostok axis".

It should be reminded that at the time of these statements, Russia's Channel 5 in St. Petersburg was already talking about "tanks to Warsaw in a day" and military exercises were being conducted on the border with the Baltic states.

In the fall of 2018, in his report "Special Economic Zone in the Kaliningrad Region. Legal issues of doing business by German companies", Andreas Knaul noted: "The attractiveness of Kaliningrad also lies in a special economic regime, tax advantages (foreign companies do not pay taxes for the first five to six years of operation), special customs conditions – all of which help to attract large and long-term investments."

At the same time, CNN reported on satellite photos showing that Russia was significantly upgrading its military facilities in the region, reinforcing its strategic outpost near NATO's borders with missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

A large map of the former Soviet Union hangs on the wall of Andreas Knaul's office in Moscow, writes Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung. It has accompanied him for almost 40 years.

The German industry publication JUVE.de wrote that in March 2022, during eleven days of the month, all major international law firms announced that they would close their offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg because of Russia's attack on Ukraine, and no one wanted to be the last. But Rödl said it was staying.

In September 2014, in his report at the annual general meeting of participants of the Russian-German Law Institute in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Andreas Knaul criticized the EU's sanctions policy.

But in August 2022, Andreas Knaul returned from Moscow to Berlin. In six months, he would become the head of... the Ukrainian department at the German law firm Luther.

An Expert on Ukrainian Issues?

A man who worked in Russia for years-even after the occupation of Crimea and the full-scale invasion-and criticized sanctions against Russia, has become the head of the Ukrainian department at a German law firm.

• Does this person have any commercial or personal interests in Ukraine?

• How does he or she address potential conflicts of interest when working on Ukraine-related projects, given his or her previous experience with Russian projects?

• And does Mr. Knaul disclose information about his past cooperation in Russian projects to his Ukrainian colleagues, partners, and subordinates?

The LIGA.net editorial board sent these three questions to Andreas Knaul via corporate e-mail and received the following response:

"I draw on my experience of managing the CMS RRH law firm in Kyiv in 2006-2009. In addition, in the summer of 2006, I attended Ukrainian language classes at the Ukrainian Catholic University — UCU — in Lviv. Moreover, you will find my personal professional experience — fully transparent — on LinkedIn. When accepting clients, Luther relies on a compliance-based system of know-your-client (KYC) procedures and a thorough conflict of interest check."

Indeed, the German lawyer's social media page contains this information. But it is also worth adding context. In 2022, both British and American MPs accused the aforementioned law firm CMS of working in the interests of Russian state structures against the backdrop of the invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Knaul's Ukrainian experience is not limited to the above-mentioned points. In 2024, he managed to deliver a lecture on "Legal basis for doing business in Ukraine" at Ukraine Special: Reconstruction and attend the Business Breakfast Ukraine – IHK Erfurt.

And last year, as part of a delegation from the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, he visited the Lviv Regional State Administration and met with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Playing Both Sides

Andreas Knaul is far from the only German who is equally well versed in Russian and Ukrainian issues. For example, Rainer Wedde and Olga Hartung-Affi are both members of the boards of the German-Russian Bar Association and the German-Ukrainian Bar Association.

Thomas Heidemann, a partner of the same German law firm CMS mentioned above, has worked in Russia for 25 years and now heads the company's Ukrainian desk. At the same time, he continues to work with Russian clients as well. According to the company's website, his "practice is limited to advising on sanctions law and supporting his clients' exit from Russia".

Another example is the gas industry expert at McKinsey, named Nico Raabe. According to the investigative publication Correctiv, he promoted "international understanding between Russia and Germany". And in October 2022, Nico Raabe appeared at the G7 Conference on Ukraine's recovery in Berlin. In the photo on Linkedin, he is together with Oleksandr Kravchenko, Managing Partner of McKinsey in Ukraine and a member of the Board of Directors of the Kyiv School of Economics.

LIGA.net also contacted Mr. Nico Raabe both via corporate email and LinkedIn with questions about a possible conflict of interest several weeks ago, but did not receive a response.

So, Andreas Knaul's story is not unique. Foreigners who have worked in Russia for a long time are now preparing to rebuild Ukraine and are actively establishing contacts with Ukrainian opinion leaders:

"Foreigners Often Become Objects of Interest to Russian Intelligence Services"

Is it possible that foreigners with a Russian background will consciously or unconsciously promote Russian interests in Ukraine? Will they not reproduce Russian corruption practices? And could such foreign experts have contacts with Russian special services? We asked two experts who professionally study Russian influence in Europe. We provided both experts with information about the subjects of this text and all references to primary sources and received the following answers.

"Foreigners working in Russia often become objects of interest to Russian intelligence services because they can influence private and public discussions regarding Russia and its behavior in the international arena. The more foreign businessmen are involved in the public sphere, the higher the chances that their activities bring political benefits to the authorities of the countries in which they work," says Anton Shekhovtsov, a guest professor at the Central European University (Vienna), in a comment to LIGA.net.

Steffen Dobbert, co-author of the book Nord Stream: How Germany is Paying for Putin's War, also comments for LIGA.net: "The key to a project like Nord Stream was strategic corruption. It involved more than just monetary payments to individuals; it targeted associations, Stasi networks and was part of a modern warfare with three objectives: to make Germany dependent on Russian gas, to divide the EU, and to re-colonise Ukraine. People like Andreas Knaul or Nico Raabe, who continued doing business despite the start of the war in 2014, worked in a pro-Russian network. It is not only ironic that such men now want to make business in Ukraine, it's indecent. The law firm Luther should be ashamed to promote Andreas Kaul as a Head of Ukraine Desk".