Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday turbines made in Russia from Russian components were being installed at power plants in Crimea.
"As a consequence, Siemens has initiated criminal charges against the responsible individuals. Furthermore, Siemens has filed lawsuits for a halt of any additional deliveries to Crimea and a removal of the already dispatched equipment back to its original destination, Taman. Lawsuits were filed in Moscow," Trost said.
However, the Siemens spokesman, Philipp Encz told Sputnik that the company does not have proof that the turbines in Crimea belong to the company, but has reasons to believe so.
"We have reasons to believe that these are our turbines. It would be proof if I personally went there, looked at a turbine and determined by number that it belongs to Siemens. The circumstances and how everything looks… We have a reason to believe that these turbines are the ones that were delivered to Taman," Encz said.
Moscow's Arbitration Court said Tuesday it had registered Siemens' lawsuit against Russia's Technopromexport (TPE) and a Siemens subsidiary. TPE is building two thermal power plants in Crimea.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Russia delivered turbines produced by Siemens to Crimea despite EU sanctions that forbid EU companies to supply the region with energy technology. Siemens spokesman Michael Friedrich told Sputnik that the company did not supply Crimea with electricity turbines in circumvention of EU sanctions. On Saturday, the media reported that ZAO Interautomatika company partially owned by Germany's Siemens had been hired to participate in installation of gas turbines in Crimea.
Following Crimea's reunification with Russia as a result of a referendum in 2014, the European Union introduced rounds of political and economic sanctions against Russia, restricting in particular the flows of EU produced goods and investments to the peninsula. In June 2017, the European Union extended the sanctions for another six months.
