BERLIN (AP) - German industrial conglomerate Siemens said Friday it is halting deliveries of power generation equipment to state-controlled companies in Russia and will sell its stake in a Russian company that offers services for power plant control systems.
The move came after Siemens said this month that gas turbines it had delivered to Russia were re-routed to Crimea, in violation both of European sanctions and a contract with the company involved. It initially said that at least two turbines were diverted.
Siemens AG said Friday it has received "credible information" that all four turbines delivered in the summer of 2016 for a project in Taman, in southern Russia, were "locally modified and illegally moved to Crimea." The European Union allows the export of power generation equipment to Russia, but not to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.
The company said in a statement that it is pursuing criminal charges against the individuals responsible at its customer, TPE, as well as legal action to halt any further deliveries to Crimea and have equipment already diverted returned to Taman.
In addition, Siemens said that it "will halt power generation equipment deliveries from existing contracts to state-controlled customers in Russia for the time being." During the pause, it said it will put in place a new control system that greatly exceeds legal requirements to prevent a repeat.
Siemens said it also "has initiated the termination process of a license agreement with Russian companies in the area of equipment supply for combined-cycle power stations."
The company said it will divest its minority holding in Russia's Interautomatika, which offers products and services for power plant control systems.
Siemens said that, based on investigations so far, it has no indication of possible violations of export control regulations.