German industrial giant Siemens says it will divest its share in Russian company Interautomatika and halt deliveries of power generation equipment to state-controlled companies in response to alleged sanctions violations by Moscow.
Siemens said in a statement that it had credible information suggesting that all four of the gas turbines it sold to Russia have been transported to Crimea in breach of contract and international sanctions against Moscow.
"Siemens took all measures within its power to prevent this," the company said. "This behaviour represents a blatant breach of supply contracts with Siemens, trust and EU regulations."
The European Union allows the export of power station parts to Russia but not to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
In 2015, before EU sanctions were introduced, Siemens had acquired a power station contract with Russia. According to Siemens, the contract explicitly stated that parts could not be transported to Crimea.
