Skopje, 31 March 2022 (MIA) – The consequences of the war in Ukraine are different to different companies, especially for global international companies, which are now in a situation where they need to look for new markets to shift their production, with countries of the Western Balkans attracting great interest, says Patrick Martens, Director of the Delegation of the German Economy in North Macedonia. The Delegation and the Macedonian-German Business Association organized conference "Private sector expectations of the new government during a healthcare and energy crisis” in Skopje on Thursday. “Both companies and citizens are affected by this crisis in terms of increased energy costs, which is especially felt in companies that use industrial electricity. We have also seen an increase in staff costs in the past period. But on the other hand, what I want to say is that some of the companies in the country need increased production. Some of the existing companies need to expand their production capacity to hire new people to meet all the new demands they have received from their customers. Apart from the war in Ukraine, other framework conditions are having an impact on the country's industry," Martens told journalists. He said a new law on global supply chains would be introduced in Germany next January, also strengthened by the new EU law. According to him, companies in the textile industry can have a great chance  in this regard. "It is planned to move production from Southeast Asia closer to Europe, so that companies operating in this industry in North Macedonia can receive many new orders and many new businesses," said Martens. He referred to Webhelp and Majorell, two new companies investing in the country in the field of services and user experience - call centers. They work with clients in markets in Europe and America, and he believes that they will provide and create a large number of well-paid jobs for citizens with university education who have knowledge of languages, so, he adds, we see some things moving forward. dk/ik/