"First of all, it is necessary to check whether there is any violation of sanctions. This check is being conducted by competent authorities," the ministry spokesman said.
Earlier in the day, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that there is a need to quickly and comprehensively investigate the alleged delivery of the Siemens turbines to Crimea, adding that the German federal government was following the situation.
Russia is constructing two thermal power plants in Crimea, with the launch planned for early 2018. In June, media reported that Russia allegedly delivered electricity turbines produced by Siemens to Crimea despite EU sanctions that forbid EU companies to supply the region with energy technology. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the turbines installed at power plants in Crimea were made in Russia from Russian components.
On Monday, Siemens said it had received information from reliable sources that at least two of the four gas turbines, supplied for a project in southern Russia's Taman, had been moved to Crimea. The company said this development was a clear violation of supply contracts with Siemens, which ban the client from supplying equipment to Crimea. On Tuesday, Siemens spokesman Philipp Encz told Sputnik that Siemens did not have proof that the turbines in Crimea belonged to the company, but had reasons to believe so.
On Tuesday, Siemens filed lawsuits in Moscow's Arbitration Court against Russia’s Technopromexport (TPE) and a Siemens subsidiary, implicated in the alleged supply of its turbines to Russia's Crimea, in spite of EU sanctions.
