Germany-Russia Trade Slid 3.5% To $33Bln In 2019 Amid Sanctions - Business Association

Trade between Germany and Russia slid 3.5 percent from January-June to $33 billion amid the fallout of sanctions and the weakening ruble, the German Eastern Business Association said Friday

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2019) Trade between Germany and Russia slid 3.5 percent from January-June to $33 billion amid the fallout of sanctions and the weakening ruble, the German Eastern Business Association said Friday.

"In the first half of 2019, the German-Russian trade sank 3.5 percent reaching 30 billion Euros, a half of trade flows between Germany and Poland," the press release read.

Trade between the two has been in decline since 2012, when Russia was Germany's biggest partner in East Europe. Germany is still Russia's second biggest partner but its gap with first-placed China is widening.

"The slowing dynamic in Russia is primarily caused by a low exchange rate of the ruble, slumping oil trade revenues and weak reform dynamic. But sanctions have hurt us too," the association's chief executive, Michael Harms, said.

He added that German business was "cautiously optimistic" about progress in the Ukrainian peace process, which could be "the beginning of the end" of sanctions on Russia.

The European Union imposed economic restrictions after blaming Russia for a role in the 2014 conflict in Ukraine, a claim it denied. Moscow responded with tit-for-tat restrictions on EU imports.