Bankruptcies to soar in Eastern Europe, but not as bad as the West!

According to today's ft.com, there will be a huge rise in corporate bankruptcies this year, up by 35% this year, "turning the world economy into a “burial ground” for businesses, according to a study by Euler Hermes, the credit insurer. In a study published on Thursday, the Paris-based unit of Allianz, says the rate of corporate collapses will reach “historic” highs in 2009 following a 27 per cent increase last year, under-lining the brutality of the economic crisis."

Interesting to note, though that the figure for Eastern Europe - 30% for Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic - is much lower than the UK, Spain and Ireland which are looking at up to 40%.

This seems strange when we've heard so much about the parlous state of economies in CEE and shows just how bad things have got in the West. Should be good news for the chemical sector in CEE once the recovery kicks in.