German business lobby group calls EU sanctions a mistake

The European Union's new economic sanctions against Russia are a "mistake" because they were imposed just as a week-old cease-fire was bringing calm to the embattled east of Ukraine, the leader of a German business lobby group was quoted saying on Sunday. Eckard Cordes, chairman of Germany's Committee on Eastern European Economic relations, said his group, which represents the interests of about 200 companies with investments in Russia, had wanted sanctions to be delayed to help bolster the cease-fire.
"We had hoped that the cease-fire could be strengthened by delaying the sanctions," Cordes told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper, calling them a "mistake."
"The new sanctions will not help to relieve tensions. We're probably at the start of a perilous spiral of sanctions." The United States and European Union imposed new sanctions against Russia on Friday, tightening financial measures against Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine.
Sanctions from the EU would limit access by Russian oil companies to funds. Sanctions from the United States hit Russia's biggest bank and an arms maker, and bar US firms from helping five Russian oil firms explore hard to reach deposits.
Cordes' group has said German exports to Russia could fall as much as 20-25 percent this year due to the effect of sanctions.
Germany Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, however, he believed the sanctions would have an effect on Putin.
"I very much hope so," Gabriel told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "Russia's economic situation is already far from good. But at the same time everything must be done to get all parties involved back to the negotiating table."
Germany is Russia's biggest trading partner in the European Union and sold about 36 billion euros of goods there last year - almost a third of the EU's total.
Sanctions and the impact on confidence of the crisis were cited by the finance ministry last month as a reason for the surprise economic contraction seen in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, in the second quarter.
There are some 6,200 German firms active in Russia with 20 billion euros invested. Russia is Germany's 11th biggest commercial partner and about 300,000 jobs depend on trade with Russia.