Siemens stops shipments to Ukraine’s Naftogaz, fearing lost contracts in Russia

The German company Siemens has stopped supplying equipment for the modernization of the gas transportation system of Ukraine, fearing to lose orders in Russia, Andriy Koboliev, head of the board of Ukraine’s gas transporting monopoly Naftogaz said in a speech during the annual meeting of Yalta European Strategy, Yevropeiska Pravda reported.

Photo:The Siemens headquarters in Munich. Photo: Wikimedia commons 

"We had agreements on the supply of Siemens compressor systems when we started working on modernizing the gas transport system, but subsequently, they refused such cooperation because it threatened their contracts with Russia,” Koboliev said.

The Naftogaz head added that the modernization of the gas transportation system requires guarantees of gas transit after 2019 when Ukraine’s contract with the Russian Federation expires.

“In order to invest in modernization, we need to know the prospects for the operation of the gas transportation system after 2019. It is clear that we are losing the southern direction of transit [because of the construction of the Turkish Stream – Ed]. Therefore, we need clarity about Nord Stream-2,” he concluded.

UNIAN provided additional details, citing Koboliev on the sidelines:

“First the compressors were delivered, those were compressors from Siemens. But shortly after we had a call from Siemens, and they said that if they delivered another piece of the equipment, their supplies to Russia would be reduced to zero.”

Earlier, Euromaidan Press reported about gas turbines produced by Siemens’ daughter company in St.Petersburg ending up in occupied Crimea, where Russia aims to install them in two power stations under construction. EU sanctions prohibit companies from participating in investments in power or infrastructure ventures in occupied Crimea as called to supply the illegally annexed peninsula with electricity. Siemens claimed it had been fooled by its Russian partner, but our investigation shows that Siemens, at the very least, is guilty of criminal negligence.