The industrials company said it has credible evidence that four gas turbines it delivered a year ago to Russian Federation had been illegally moved to Crimea in a breach of both Siemens’ contract with Russian Federation and European Union sanctions placed on Crimea in 2014.
Siemens said earlier on Friday that all four of its turbines intended for the project in Taman were allegedly illegally delivered to Crimea, offering to cancel the contract and buy back the turbines.
Siemens will exit the Interautimatika joint venture, in which holds a 46% stake, with the rest owned by Russian state-owned businesses TPE and Rostec.
Matthias Schepp, head of the German-Russian chamber of commerce, said: “German companies ought to be able to depend on contracts being upheld”.
“Siemens took all measures within its power to prevent this”, the company said.
That followed a report in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that said Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the assurance personally to Germany’s foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, in September. A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment Friday during a regular briefing with reporters.
Russia will press ahead with plans to build two new power stations in Crimea, said Andrei Cherezov, a Russian deputy energy ministry, the RIA news agency reported.
Siemens said it would put in place additional controls to ensure that energy equipment in future will only be dispatched once Siemens has confirmed it can be installed at the agreed destination. It is also pursuing legal actions meant to halt any other deliveries to Crimea and ensure that any equipment that has already been shipped is returned to its original destination.