HOUSTON (Sputnik) — German corporate giant Siemens AG plans to continue its cooperation with Russia despite sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukrainian conflict, Siemens AG President and CEO Joe Kaeser said on the sidelines of an international energy conference in Houston, Texas.
“Our plans [of working in Russia] have not changed. We do what is possible,” Kaeser told journalists on Wednesday.
“With that local protection we can help to keep the economy going. But we also need to adhere to political primacy of what we have to follow,” he said.
Kaeser noted that Siemens has been affected by the conditions the Russian economy is in.
“First and foremost, it is not about sanctions, it is more that the Rouble has plunged so much so, it is hard for our customers to afford what they need,” he said.
He also stressed that Siemens AG will not reduce its investments into a joint railways project with Russian mechanical engineering company Sinara in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
“There is no plan to decrease investments [in Russia],” Kaeser stated on Wednesday. “We still have good relationship. We build the trains and the locomotives in Yekaterinburg together with Sinara, so we are there.”
Kaeser noted that the Russian Railways has been affected by the anti-Russian sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine.
“The ticket prices have been frozen so they can not secure the inflation, which is about 9 to 10 percent every year, so they need to push out the orders a little bit,” he explained.
The European Union, the United States and their allies have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia in 2014 over its alleged role in the Ukrainian conflict. Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations.
Starting in August 1, 2014, the United States and the European Union prohibited deliveries of equipment for deep water exploration and oil extraction to Russian companies. In September 2014, the sanctions were further tightened to prohibit providing services for such projects.
