Kremlin: Siemens intends to supply Russia with turbines
The German concern Siemens is taking part in tenders to supply the gas turbines for energy facilities in Russia, despite the situation with the delivery of turbines to sanctioned Crimea, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Andrei Cherezov told the press, TASS reports.
“Several companies are now holding large tenders with the same turbines, and Siemens is taking part in these tenders,” the deputy energy minister said. According to him, Siemens has even “shown interest” in the tender to supply turbines for the thermal power plant in Taman, Krasnodar Krai.
According to the energy minister, the construction of energy facilities has begun to decline in the world market, and as a result, a narrowing of the market to supply high capacity gas turbines is predicted. “When the matter was examined with respect to price range, the American turbines produced by GE of the same capacity as the Siemens ones, with certain arrangements, could be cheaper,” Cherezov added.
RBC news agency reports that a representative of the Siemens office in Russia refused to comment on the “current tenders”.
The construction of the thermal power plant in Taman mentioned by Cherezov has been accompanied by scandals relating to Siemens. The Russian company Technopromexport bought four gas turbines from Siemens and later sent the turbines to the Crimea.
Siemens considered this a violation of EU sanctions. Technopromexport in turn insists that the gas turbines were acquired on the secondary market. In the end, Siemens ended its collaboration with the state-controlled Russian energy companies, and filed a lawsuit against them.