Berlin 'Had No Other Option' But to Call for Russia Sanctions Over Siemens Issue

© REUTERS / Tobias Schwarz/File PhotoSaftey helmets are piled up for media representatives at the Siemens AG gas turbine factory hall in Berlin, Germany, November 8, 2012.
Saftey helmets are piled up for media representatives at the Siemens AG gas turbine factory hall in Berlin, Germany, November 8, 2012. - Sputnik International
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Germany had no other choice but to call for anti-Russian sanctions amid the scandal around deliveries of Siemens turbines to Crimea, Managing Director of German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations Michael Harms told Sputnik on Thursday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, a source told Sputnik that Council of the European Union's Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) agreed to expand the list of anti-Russian individual sanctions on the initiative of Berlin. The source noted that the technical work on the relevant acts would follow.

"It was Germany's initiative in the Council of European Union to include individuals and organizations, firms on the sanctions list. I am afraid, in this situation, the German side had no other option, because it was a violation of the sanctions regime, which, in my opinion, is linked to the activities of particular individuals in Russia. I will stress that Siemens has been acting in line with the sanctions regime," Harms said.

In early July, Siemens created a task force team to investigate reports about the alleged transfer of turbines produced by Siemens Gas Turbines Technologies, a joint venture with the Russian Power Machines company, to the Crimean peninsula. On Friday, the company said that all four of its turbines intended for a project in Taman were illegally delivered to Crimea.

An employee of German industrial giant Siemens works on a rotor at their Gas turbine plant on November 8, 2012 in Berlin - Sputnik International
German Economic Committee Opposes Siemens' Pullout From Russian Market
Siemens decided to annul a power plant equipment supply license agreement and suspend power equipment supplies to Russian state firms to devise new control measures, while Berlin promised a corresponding response to the violation of the agreements.

On July 11, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said that the new power plants in Crimea would be equipped with turbines manufactured in Russia and not with ones imported from the West. Commenting on the situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that all products used in Crimea made in Russia.

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