UPDATE 2: Spox: Kremlin unaware of Siemens’ plans to quit local units

(Rewrites headline, lede, adds data in paragraph 3)

MOSCOW/BERLIN, Jul 14 (PRIME) -- Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin is unaware of possible plans by Germany’s Siemens to sell its stakes in Russian companies Interautomatika and Siemens Gas Turbines Technologies, he told reporters on Friday.

Newspaper Wirtschaftswoche reported earlier in the day, citing unnamed sources, that Siemens is considering ways to sell its 45.7% stake in Interautomatika, which according to Reuters, was among the contractors who are installing Siemens’ turbines in Crimea. Siemens’s President Joe Kaeser also wants to sell a stake in Siemens Gas Turbines Technologies, where Siemens owns 65%, according to the sources.

Peskov said: “No, we are unaware of that.”

Spokesman for Siemens Philipp Encz earlier declined to comment on the newspaper’s information. “As we said, we will look at further repercussions. This was in our statement, which is why I cannot comment on further speculations,” he told PRIME, adding that all statements in Wirtschaftswoche were an interpretation by the author of the article.

Reuters reported last week that Russia had managed to deliver turbines made by Siemens to Crimea, which is subject to European sanctions barring E.U. companies from selling power equipment.

On Monday, Reuters reported that Siemens was doing everything possible to prevent installation of its turbines in Crimea. The company was also taking steps to prevent Interautomatika from installing and servicing the equipment. Use of the power turbines was discussed in Moscow on the diplomatic level.

The company also filed suits in Moscow against Technopromexport, part of Russian state industrial corporation Rostec.

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