The German export association BGA has warned of a "massive credit squeeze" by late summer while Business Europe, the region's main business lobby, told the European Central Bank that bank lending desperately needs to be improved.

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The association said export trade was lower than normal early last year as retailers ran down their millennium stocks.

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They are the least likely to export out of 15 big economies, according to the National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group.

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"It's a smart scheme, " says Jeremy Gordon, a writer and analyst at the London-based World Nuclear Association, adding that with additional nuclear energy at home, Russia can export more of its abundant natural gas.

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