Five charged with helping illegal turbine sale to Crimea

Prosecutors in Hamburg charged four Germans and one Swiss-French citizen with violating sanctions by helping export a Siemens gas turbine to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia, a prosecution spokesperson said on Wednesday.

According to the charge sheet, first reported by Wirtschaftswoche magazine, the five knew when they helped export the turbines, worth 111 million euros, from the port of Hamburg to St. Petersburg that their ultimate destination would be two power plants in Crimea.

Western companies are barred from selling to Crimea, whose 2014 annexation is not recognised by any major government. Siemens did not immediately respond to a request for comment.