Russia is one of the most important export partners for Germany in the engineering field. However, ant-Russian sanctions have negatively affected German companies and caused widespread criticism among German entrepreneurs. During the first nine months of 2015 exports to Russia declined by 27% to 3.58 billion euros, DWN reported.
If extended, German businesses will continue to suffer serious losses and the German economy in general will witness a significant downturn, DWN reported.
"In this year, Germany might be able to export to Russia products worth only 5 billion euros. This is almost 3 billion euros less than two years ago," the newspaper wrote, citing head of the German Engineering Association Thilo Brodtmann.
Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated over the conflict in Ukraine, with Western countries accusing Russia of its alleged involvement in the crisis. In July 2014, the US and EU imposed sectoral economic sanctions against Russia. In response, Russia restricted food imports from the countries that joined the anti-Russian sanctions.
The EU's economic sanctions against Russia are set to expire on January 31, 2016. The extension of the sanctions will be discussed by the leaders of the EU member states at the European Council on December 17-18.
