Analytics, Baltic States – CIS, Economics, GDP, Latvia, Markets and Companies

22% of respondents said that they have felt a slight negative impact of the embargo, while 8% said that the embargo had a major negative effect on their business.

About 1% of respondents believe that Russia's embargo had a slight positive effect on their business.

The results of the study show that Russia's embargo had the greatest negative impact on small enterprises. 33% of small enterprises say that Russia's embargo had a negative impact on their business, including 8% who note slight negative impact and 25% – significant negative impact.

Large enterprises have been less affected by Russia's embargo – 74% say it had no impact on their business, 14% – slight negative impact, 3% – significant negative impact. Meanwhile, 3% of the large enterprises said that Russia's embargo had a great positive effect on their business, 6% – a slight positive impact.

Companies in the construction industry have been affected by Russia's embargo the most.

The general mood among business owners has significantly worsened during the past quarter, reaching a three-year low. The index has dropped down to 48.30 points, which demonstrates a pessimistic attitude. This kind of pessimism is largely due to the unstable geopolitical situation, economic slowdown in the European Union, and several psychological factors.

Compared with the previous quarter, the optimism index has decreased by 3.81 points – from 52.11 in June to 48.30 in October. "Citadele Index" registered a similar index back in 2011.

"The most optimistic ones at the moment are business owners in Riga. Latgale Province, where the index is 44, still has the comparatively largest number of pessimistic businessmen. Business owners are rather pessimistic about next year's forecasts as well," the head of the research center SKDS, Arnis Kaktins told the press representatives.

The index is still rather stable among the large business owners, while owners of micro-businesses tend to be more pessimistic.

Traders tend to be more optimistic (49.64 points) than, for example, service providers (48.38 points), and producers (47.71 points). Representatives of the construction industry are the most pessimistic.