Development of business in the Group

This section provides additional information on, and explains recent changes to, the significant events and their effects on the development of business in the Group as described in the combined management report of the 2021 Annual Report.

Our business is not directly affected by the war in Ukraine. Deutsche Telekom does not operate any networks in Russia or Ukraine. Neither would a stop on gas deliveries from Russia directly impact on our network operations. Deutsche Telekom is discontinuing its developer activities in Russia. A team of software developers based mainly in St. Petersburg, who provide services for customers outside of Russia, have been offered work outside of Russia. We cannot yet assess with certainty how Deutsche Telekom will be indirectly affected, in particular by the impact on the global economy. The overall economic outlook has deteriorated significantly, above all as a result of the extensive sanctions, the limitations on trade in goods, and rising energy prices.

In addition, the development of the global economy continues to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Although the pandemic has only had a limited negative impact on the telecommunications sector so far, if the global pandemic were to re-escalate, it could lead to prolonged and increased supply-side shortages. Based on experience so far, we expect the coronavirus pandemic to only impact our business to a limited extent going forward.