German companies start to feel the pain of Russia crisis

BERLIN (Reuters) - Companies in Germany, Russia's biggest trade partner in the European Union, are starting to feel the pain of a deepening standoff between the West and Moscow, with firms from defence to car manufacturing warning about a hit to business.

Germany sold about 36 billion euros ($48 billion) (28.56 billion British pound) of goods to Russia last year, almost a third of the EU's total, and some 6,200 German firms are active there with 20 billion euros of investment.