BERLIN, September 3. /TASS/. The German Eastern Business Association (OAOEV) spoke against imposing sanctions against Russia as a possible reaction to the Alexei Navalny incident and welcomed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refusal to tie the incident with implementation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

"We must not let this incident become a long-term burden for our bilateral relations and thus harm the German-Russian business contacts," OAOEV chairman Oliver Hermes said in a statement published Thursday. He pointed out that the chancellor refused to tie the Navalny case with the Nord Stream 2 for good reason.

"We consider it a mistake to react to Navalny’s poisoning by new economic sanctions that will later affect completely uninvolved companies and the people of Russia," Hermes underscored.

The committee called for clarifying the circumstances of the Navalny case "only in cooperation with Russia" and "on the basis of transparency."

About OAOEV

The OAOEV is Germany’s regional initiative for countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Based in Berlin, the committee unites over 350 enterprises, mostly from the medium-sized businesses, as well as major industrial unions.

On March 23, 2018, members of the Eastern Committee, founded in 1952, and the Eastern Europe Business Association of Germany, founded in 1989, voted to unite in a single organization under the common name of German Eastern Business Association (Ost-Ausschuss - Osteuropaverein der Deutschen Wirtschaft e.V., OAOEV).