German auto companies are suffering losses from anti-Russian sanctions, according to a new report from Moscow. Russia is one of the most important export partners of Germany in the engineering field. However, anti-Russian sanctions have negatively affected German companies and triggered widespread criticism from German entrepreneurs. During the first nine months of 2015, exports to Russia declined by 27% to €3.58 billion, Sputnik reported. In December, European Union sanctions against Russia could be automatically extended. However, Italian officials requested that EU member states should debate the issue instead of prolonging the sanctions automatically. If extended, EU businesses, particularly those ofGermany, will continue to suffer serious losses and the largest European economy in general will witness a significant downturn. "In this year, Germany might be able to export to Russia products worth only €5 billion. This is almost €3 billion less than two years ago," the newspaper wrote, citing the head of German Engineering Association,ThiloBrodtmann. Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated over the conflict in Ukraine, with western countries blaming Russia over its involvement in the crisis.
