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Russia may delay until March the official launch of its power stations in Crimea, the stations' engineering firm said, the latest hitch to the plants where Russia is accused of installing German-designed electricity turbines in contravention of sanctions.
The company, Tekhnopromeksport, said it had requested the launch be pushed back until spring, citing issues with the supply of key equipment, problems with subcontractors as well as infrastructure.
Russia began building two power stations on Crimea to provide electricity to the peninsula which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, but the facilities became embroiled in a row over sanctions.
German engineering firm Siemens says Russia clandestinely delivered several of its turbines to Crimea despite European sanctions which ban the supply of energy technology to Crimea.
Russia's energy ministry says the turbines were not from Siemens. It said they were modernised turbines that were the work of Russian specialists and Russian equipment.
German prosecutors are investigating three Siemens employees over the incident.
Ankara has been in close cooperation with Ukraine in several areas, Turkey’s agriculture and forestry minister said on Tuesday."We are in close cooperation with Ukraine at all levels in areas of trade, investment, tourism and defense industry," Bekir Pakdemirli said at Ukrainian-Turkish Agriculture Business Forum in the capital Kiev.Pakdemirli said Turkey wants to enhance bilateral relations with Ukraine in any field, particularly in economy.Poroshenko submits bill to end friendship treaty with Russia to Ukrainian parliamentThe bilateral trade volume between the two countries was $3.5 billion in 2017, he said, adding: "Agricultural trade includes $1.104 billion part of it."The minister asserted that the countries should strive more to reach targeted bilateral trade volume of $10 billion."It is also important for our cooperation to take part together in the EU market through increasing mutual investments in agriculture," Pakdemirli said.Kremlin calls absurd accusation it has designs on Ukrainian sea ports
Turkey in close cooperation with Ukraine, says minister
Tekhnopromeksport said the first stage of the power stations will be ready by the end of this year, but that it had requested that the launch of the second phase be delayed until to March.
A spokesman for Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak confirmed a possible delay. The energy ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Russia has already delayed the launch several times. It officially pushed the date back to Sept. 1, but when the first station did not launch on time, the date was delayed to October.
The stations' first power units began to supply electricity to the market in October and its official opening date was November, the Russian energy ministry has said.
The second phase was meant to start on Oct. 1 at the power station in Sevastopol and on Nov. 1 at the one in Simferopol, according to a government decree.
NATO has reiterated its call on Russia to release Ukrainian sailors and the ships they seized, the bloc's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday."Today and tomorrow NATO's foreign ministers will meet and address wide range of issues of importance for our shared security. We will address Russia's destabilizing behavior," Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of a two-day NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.He added, "We recently saw how Russia used military force against Ukrainian vessels and arrested the ships and the sailors. We recall on Russia to immediately release the ships and the sailors."On Nov. 25, Russia seized two Ukrainian navy ships and a navy tugboat along with 23 crew members off Crimea, accusing Kiev of entering its waters and provoking a conflict.Stoltenberg said despite Ukraine not being a member of the NATO, the alliance strongly supports the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity."NATO allies will also continue to help to modernize and strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces," he added.The chief also said NATO is concerned about new Russian missile system "which puts the INF treaty [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty] in jeopardy"."It is urgent that Russia ensures full compliance in a transparent and verified way because the INF treaty is so important for our security," he added. The treaty was signed in 1987 between the U.S. and the then Soviet Union. On Oct. 21, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the treaty.Kremlin says it regrets that US-Russia dialogue is not working outKiev says Russia has 'partially unlocked' Ukrainian Azov Sea ports
NATO iterates call on Russia to free Ukrainian sailors
Russia has partially unlocked Ukrainian sea ports on the Azov Sea, Ukraine's infrastructure minister Volodymyr Omelyan said on Tuesday."Yes, Berdyansk and Mariupol ports are partially unlocked. Vessels make their way to the entrance and exit through the Kerch strait towards Ukrainian ports ... the movement is partially restored," the ministry quoted Omelyan as saying. Poroshenko submits bill to end friendship treaty with Russia to Ukrainian parliamentKremlin calls absurd accusation it has designs on Ukrainian sea ports
Kiev says Russia has 'partially unlocked' Ukrainian Azov Sea ports