Rostec intends to finish building the thermal power plant in the Crimea this year, if it gets Iran's approval to supply turbines.. Until now, the issue of the procurement of gas turbines was open, as foreign suppliers, the most likely of which was Germany's Siemens, risk to fall under the sanctions. Iranian turbines which stirred the interest of Rostec, are also likely to be made on the Siemens license by Mapna. But as the lawyers notice, in this case the risk of sanctions for the Germans os much less, and the delivery of equipment from Iran can only lead to a litigation between Siemens and Mapna.

Rostec expects to buy in Iran turbines for new thermal power plants in the Crimea (the project is being implemented by companies of Tekhnopromexport, which is itself part of a state corporation), said in Abu Dhabi CEO of Rostec Sergey Chemezov. According to him, negotiations are "in the final stages", and before the end of the year, unless there are new Western sanctions, the turbines will be installed. Rostec didn't further comment on the situation, citing the confidentiality of the negotiations.

This year, Tekhnopromexport must put in operation two combined-cycle thermal power plants 470 MW each in Simferopol and Sevastopol, which should close the issue of energy supply of the Crimea, which is cut off from supplies from Ukraine. The key issue was the equipment: the scheme involves the use of four large gas turbines - either imported or produced under license of JV Silovye Mashiny in St. Petersburg, together with Siemens (GTE-160). Both options were hampered by the Western sanctions. The sectoral experts didn't rule out that to bypass the implemented ban a trick might be used, confusion the projects: in addition to the Crimea it was planned to build a power plant in Taman (Krasnodar region), their units are similar, and Taman equipment might have ended up on the opposite side of the Kerch Strait. These suspicions are fueled by the fact that  Tekhnopromexport, having the right to build power plants in the Crimea, conducted a tender for thermal power plant in Taman, although the investor of this station has not yet been chosen. At the end of 2016  Tekhnopromexport and Siemens had a conflict, when the Germans slowed down the delivery of additional equipment in Taman. Siemens told Kommersant said that "the turbine produced by Siemens technology gas turbines "(a joint venture with Silovye Mashiny) for the Taman plant, are intended, in accordance with the contract, for that project."

Serget Chemezov did not disclose any possible Iranian supplier, or the characteristics of the turbines. But it is possible that we are talking about the largest producer of power equipment in Iran, Mapna. 

The holding produces several types of turbines, primarily licensed models or their modifications. In this case, for the Crime Mapna could deliver V94.2 gas turbines with capacity of 160 MW; in fact, the same old models of Siemens, which have been produced since the 1990s in St. Petersburg under the code GTE-160. Kommersant's source in the market said that Iran has already built about 160 of these turbines. But he did not rule out the option that, for example, the "Taman" turbines will end up in the Crimea, and the Iranians will conclude a contract for their service. Siemens declined to comment whether the agreements with Iran stipulate the possibility of export of equipment (in particular, to countries with manufacturing of turbines according to the Siemens technology) and whether the possibility of such supplies to Russia and the Crimea was discussed with Rostec. 

Partner of the law firm Quorus GmbH Yevgeny Zhilin said that the common practice for international licensing agreements is the inclusion of restrictions, including date, area and type of use. "It may be a single country or region, such as the CIS countries," says he. "Previously it was done mainly in order to avoid competition from distributors and manufacturers, and now due to the possible sanctions." There may be a ban on the supply to the disputed territories (the Crimea, Abkhazia, Kashmir and so on), the lawyer says. "If the contract is signed until 2014 (according to open sources, the turbine V94.2 has been produced at least since 2011 by Mapna), it is unlikely to have any restrictions with regard to the Crimea," says Mr. Zhilin. "But Russia could be excluded from the supply market, as Siemens has other partners in our country. If the Russian Federation has not been excluded, the Iranians won't violate anything with such supplies."

However, Yevgeny Zhilin adds that the parties could later introduce new restrictions on the territory supplies, then such exports would be a violation of the agreement. In any case, any claims against Siemens are hardly possible, he said: the supplier would be an Iranian company. Moreover, if the contract included the prohibition of deliveries to Russia or in the Crimea, it will confirm the conscientious behavior of Siemens, says the lawyer. Later on, Siemens could make claims for breach of contract against the Iranians, but this will be a private dispute of companies.