German business estimates damage from US anti-Russian sanctions at 1.5 bln euros

The losses of German companies from the sanctions, the United States imposed on Russia, may amount to 1.5 bln euros, according to a press release of the Russian-German Foreign Trade Chamber, TASS reports.

It conducted a survey of 154 companies, which are members of the organization.

"Short-term losses are estimated by the survey participants in the current fiscal year in the hundreds of millions of euros, and may amount to 377 million euros." The medium-term losses will amount to at least 0.82 billion euros, according to conservative estimates. In the worst scenario, it may total almost 1.5 billion euros," the report said.

On Thursday, a source with the German government told reporters in Berlin that the German authorities would welcome exceptions for national companies in the course of implementation of the US latest sanctions against Russia.

"These sanctions can affect our companies, and in a very negative manner. If there is an opportunity to get exceptions for them, we would welcome it, "the source noted.

It is expected that this topic will be discussed at the meeting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump, which will be held on Friday in Washington.

The Russian-German Foreign Trade Chamber expressed hope that the Chancellor will manage to get exceptions or relief for German firms that may be affected by the recent US sanctions against Russian enterprises and individuals."