BERLIN, Aug 20 (Reuters) - German exports to Russia plunged in the first half of 2014, led by a sharp fall in car and machinery shipments, amid an escalating standoff between the West and Moscow over Ukraine.
The value of German shipments to Russia fell 15.5 percent to 15.3 billion euros in the first six months of the year, data from the Statistics Office showed. That was a sharper drop than in the first quarter of the year, when exports to Russia dropped by 13 percent.
German factories making cars and car parts saw the value of goods sent to Russia slump 24.4 percent, while the fall in machinery exports was 18.7 percent. (Reporting by Rene Wagner and Michelle Martin; Editing by Noah Barkin)