Moscow Court to hear Siemens turbine complaint on September 18

MOSCOW,  (Sputnik) – Moscow’s court of arbitration agreed to hear on September 18 the complaint of Siemens against Russia’s Rostec State Corporation about the alleged delivery of its turbines for power stations to Crimea in violation of EU sanctions, the court’s schedule showed.

The court, however, dismissed the company’s claim to arrest the turbines and impose a ban on their installment. The complaint was registered on July 11. The plaintiff demanded from the court to recognize the deal as obsolete. The respondents in the case are Russia’s Technopromexport and Siemens Gas Turbines Technologies, a joint venture of Siemens AG and Power Machines company.

In July, Siemens learned that its four gas turbines provided for a project in southern Russia’s Taman had been allegedly moved to Crimea, where Russia was building two thermal plants. Following the incident, the company decided to annul a power plant supply license agreement and suspend power equipment deliveries to Russian state firms. On August 4, the European Union added three Russian nationals and three companies involved in the turbines scandal to the sanctions list, saying that their actions “undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.”

Commenting on the issue, Russia’s Technopromexport said it purchased turbines for Crimean power plants in the secondary market, with Russian engineering companies modernizing them.