MOSCOW, May 4.Capital outflow is occurring on an “unprecedented scale” from Germany, said Friedrich Merz, head of Germany’s largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), in an interview with Tagesspiegel.
«Our economy is strong. But it also has clear weaknesses, which for the Federal Chancellor (Olaf Scholz — ed.) fade into the background, for example, capital outflow on an unprecedented scale,» Merz said. 
The politician stressed that an urgent economic program is needed to improve the climate for businesses.
«Psychologically, we are probably in worse shape than the economy,» Merz said.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Germany was likely experiencing its last days as a global industrial superpower amid the closure of many enterprises and a general decline due to competition with the United States and China, but the latest blow for it was the cessation of Russian gas supplies.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, noted that Germany’s purchases of LNG at exorbitant prices instead of Russian pipeline gas drop the level of its “competitiveness, the economy as a whole, to zero.” The Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the West made a serious mistake by refusing to buy hydrocarbons from Russia; it will fall into a new, stronger dependence due to higher prices. Moscow emphasized that those who refused are still buying more expensive through intermediaries and will continue to buy Russian oil and gas.