Russ Oil-Gas

03 February 2009 - The Moscow Times - German engineering conglomerate Siemens will build a transformer factory in the Voronezh region, chief executive Peter Löscher said at a news conference Tuesday, and the company will also step up cooperation with Gazprom on liquefied natural gas. The 35 million euro ($45 million) factory, to be launched in 2011, will produce high-voltage transformers for electricity grids, and will be the first factory Siemens has built in Russia since the company's assets in Russia were nationalized in 1916. Siemens will not scale back its expansion plans in Russia, despite the financial crisis, he said. Later Tuesday, Löscher is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and the two will discuss nuclear cooperation, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, will also meet the Siemens chief. Löscher confirmed that Siemens was considering a joint venture with Atomenergoprom, which builds and manages nuclear power plants in Russia, calling it "a potential partner." He declined to comment further. German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported last month that Siemens was eyeing a possible joint venture with Atomenergoprom, controlled by Rosatom. In a separate meeting, Siemens and Gazprom said they would improve their cooperation on producing LNG, Gazprom said on its web site after Löscher met Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller. Siemens will also service the electricity turbines at Mosenergo and OGK-2, generating companies controlled by Gazprom, Löscher told reporters. Siemens will also service the turbines at the power stations of the state-run electricity trader Inter RAO. Additionally, Siemens agreed to supply X-ray equipment to seven regional centers of Petromed, a Russian medical equipment company. Siemens refused to disclose the terms of the deal.