STOP THE BOMB at the Siemens AnnualAnnual Shareholder Meeting 2012

At the annual shareholder meeting of Siemens, which took place on January 24, 2012 in the Olympiahalle in Munich, Siemens' shareholders of the coalition STOP THE BOMB confronted the Siemens board with questions regarding Siemens' business in Iran. Siemens board members declared that they will continue to fulfill their "legal obligations" in Iran. The trade volume regarding business in Iran amounted to 450 Million Euro in 2011. Siemens still runs a department in Tehran with 185 employees.

STOP THE BOMB at Siemens Annual Shareholder Meeting 2011

STOP THE BOMB shareholders were present at Siemens shareholder meeting on January 25, 2011 and asked critical questions regarding Siemens' business in Iran. The Siemens directors refused to give a clear answer regarding their trade volume with Iran in 2010, but STOP THE BOMB later found out that it amounted to roughly 682 Million Euro. In 2010, 230 workers were active at the Siemens department in Iran. The Siemens board declared that it would still provide maintenance service and replacement parts for existing facilities in Iran.

STOP THE BOMB at Siemens Shareholder Meeting 2010

Shareholders from the STOP THE BOMB coalition will ask questions regarding Siemens’ business in Iran at the shareholder meeting in Munich on January 26, 2010. At the same time there will be a protest rally by STOP THE BOMB outside the convention center. The questions will for instance cover the following topics:

• The business volumen of Siemens in Iran
  
• Siemens' Iranian business partners
  
• The scandal of the export of surveillance technology to Iran by Nokia-Siemens-Networks
• The political situation in Iran
• The planned joint venture with the Russian company Rosatom, which is also active in the Iranian nuclear program
• Siemens export of dual-use technology that has been stopped by German customs officials and the British Navy on it’s way to Iran
• A one-billion Euro (1.44 billion US dollar) deal with Iran to build 100 gas turbo-compressors 

Answers from the Siemens board at the Siemens Shareholder Meeting 2010

CEO Peter Löscher gave shareholders from the STOP THE BOMB coalition the following answers:

In October 2009, the board of directors decided not to contract new business deals with Iran in the future. This would apply only by mid-2010 though, since there would be legally binding offers from the time before this decision.

Löscher claims the press reports concerning a new capital business assignment in Iran to be wrong. “The Iranian side already discounted that, too.” We are talking about the question on a one-billion-Euro-deal on 100 gas turbines. What Löscher didn’t say is that the deal was already made in 2007, as the Handelsblatt reported.[1] According to AFP only 45 gas turbines have been delivered, so the biggest part of the technology which is crucial for the Iranian energy sector is still to be delivered.[2]

The answer regarding the number of employees of Siemens in Iran was concrete: at present 280 employees of Siemens are working in Iran, mainly in customer service and administration.

Concerning the reports of DER SPIEGEL, which accused Siemens of the delivery of turbo compressor for Iran’s nuclear program[3], Löscher said, “the compressors have been designated for civil purposes only and aren’t subject to any export regulations. An impoundment by the German customs didn’t exist at any time.” In STOP THE BOMB’s estimation, the reference to the civil character doesn’t prove yet that the turbo compressors could not be used for the nuclear program.

The SPIEGEL-article also spoke about the delivery of industry-computers to Iran via China. The SPIEGEL reported that these computers also could serve the purpose of the navigation of nuclear facilities. Löscher commented that Siemens didn’t have any signs for a forwarding to Iran. Löscher: “At no time did we have any signs concerning a possible forwarding to customers in Iran. The goods aren’t in our possession anymore. The assumption, Siemens would have violated export regulations in the context of product delivery to Iran are not correct. Siemens strictly observes all national and international regulations on export control, and such was it in this case, too.”

THE CEO didn’t want to comment on particular orders. Löscher just made general statements: deliveries to customers in Iran come from production sites in several countries; Siemens’ activities in Iran have civil character and Siemens observes all European and US-American embargo regulations.

Löscher rejected he responsibility for the delivery of telecommunication surveillance installations; the “operative lead” of the joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks lies in the hands of Nokia. NSN didn’t act illegally. “Consequences for the image of our company are not discernable”, says Löscher.

Also the question regarding the business relations to Perusa Partners Fund and the company Trovicor (to which „intelligence solutions“ technology was sold, a  surveillance technology) was not answered by Löscher with referring to that the responsibility for delivery is with Nokia.

Why the website of Siemens SSK was deleted in Iran, Löscher could not tell, he just refered to the decision of Siemens not to provide and resources anymore for the maintenance of websites.

The last state credit guarantee (“Hermes-Bürgschaft”) Siemens received in the year 2008 for its business with Iran.

Regarding the planed joint venture with Rosatom[4] Siemens said it was “in dialogue with the German government”. Löscher declined to give any information on the current status of the joint venture. Rosatom is about to complete the Iranian nuclear reactor in Busher and plans to remain active in the Iranian nuclear program.[5]