Vladimir Putin last year promised the German authorities to personally verify that the Siemens turbines will not be delivered to the Crimea, learned the German magazine Wirtschaftswoche. Russian President Vladimir Putin at a "meeting in a narrow circle" with representatives of the German authorities promised "personally" to make sure that the four Siemens gas turbines will not be delivered to the Crimea. This is reported with reference to the sources familiar to the situation, the German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reports.

Negotiations, as the interlocutors clarified, took place in September last year in Moscow. They are, as Wirtschaftswoche notes, in particular, the present German Foreign Minister, and then the German Minister of Economics and Energy Sigmar Gabriel, as well as the German ambassador to Russia Rüdiger von Fritsch.

On the promise of Putin, according to the sources of the magazine, the German authorities informed Siemens. In the company, as the interlocutor of Wirtschaftswoche said, "they were forced to rely on Putin's words."

These statements, as the interviewee explained, neither confirm nor deny the information about this promises made by the Russian leader regarding the gas turbines of Siemens. In addition, the representative of the Foreign Ministry of Germany, as Wirtschaftswoche writes, expressed confidence that Siemens will not comment on this information either.

RBC sent a request to Dmitry Peskov, presidential spokesman.

On the delivery of gas turbines of the German concern Siemens to the Crimea for the power plant it became known on July 5. About this, referring to three people familiar with the construction of the station's source told Reuters. Speech, as the agency then clarified, was about the turbines that were produced by Siemens. Their delivery, as noted by Reuters, was carried out despite the EU sanctions against Russia.

Siemens, in turn, said it was starting its own investigation of this data. On July 10, the German corporation filed a lawsuit in Moscow arbitration against three Russian companies - Rostekh's subsidiaries Tekhnopromexport and Tekhnopromexport, which were responsible for deliveries of the turbines supplied to Siemens by the Russian side in 2016, and against St. Petersburg's OOO " Siemens Gas Turbine Technology "- a joint venture of the German concern and OJSC" Power Machines ", which manufactured equipment.

At the same time, Technopromexport then claimed that the turbines were purchased on the secondary market and modernized at Russian enterprises. Sources RBC participating in the project, in turn, argued that the equipment that was in the Crimea was produced at a joint venture of Power Machines and Siemens in St. Petersburg. Then these turbines, according to their data, were significantly altered at Rostekh plants.

July 21 in Siemens announced the breakdown of the license agreement for the installation of equipment for Russian power plants, as well as the withdrawal from the number of shareholders of the company Interavtomatika. In it, the German company owned 45.7%, the company was one of the contractors involved in installing turbines.

In addition, the concern temporarily stopped deliveries of equipment for power plants to Russia, including for production under government orders. The source of RBC, close to the government, meanwhile reported that during the decision to supply Siemens turbines to the Crimea, Moscow counted all possible risks and consequences, including allowing the company to leave the country completely.