BERLIN (Sputnik) — The survey by the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce (AHK) quizzed 190 German businesses that have a combined turnover of $30.7 billion in Russia and employ 122,000 people.
"Only 29 percent of entrepreneurs sampled expect sanctions to be eased this year, whereas 91 percent wish for this," AHK chairman Matthias Schepp told reporters.
Presenting the findings of the survey at a press conference in Berlin, Schepp said German business wanted EU economic sanctions against Russia to be phased out, disregarding the progress in east Ukraine.
Relations between Moscow and Brussels grew tense in 2014 when the 28-nation bloc imposed sanctions on Russia following the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine and Crimea's reunification with Russia.