German electrical group Siemens AG said it more than doubled orders from Russia in the year ending Sept. 30 to 1.1 billion Deutsche marks ($706 million), consolidating its position as one of the country's biggest Western business partners.


Turnover rose to 377 million marks from 300 million in 1992-93, Moscow representative Robert Schmid said.


The Munich-based company hoped to maintain its high level of Russian orders in 1994-95, "even though a few big projects have not yet been finalized," Schmid said.


He said Siemens was in talks with a Russian partner to produce gas turbines for thermal power stations with a capacity of up to 50 megawatts. If there was enough demand, small gas turbines could be supplied to the world market from Russia.


Siemens, which already has 10 joint ventures, is seeking a partner for another venture to make equipment for energy distribution, Schmid said. Almost two-thirds of orders in 1993-94 were for energy and communications technology.


Siemens is considering a project for telephone switching points. Schmid also said he had high hopes for public transport technology, although such projects were especially hard to fund.


Siemens plans further expansion of its Russian business. "Our plans are for annual orders worth 2 billion marks and turnover of 1.3 billion marks by 1997-98," he said.


Siemens orders from central and Eastern Europe more than quadrupled to 2.5 billion marks in 1993-94, with 55 percent from the CIS, Schmid said.


Turnover in the former Soviet bloc was 1.3 billion marks in 1993-94, of which 41 percent was in the CIS, he said.


Schmid attributed the sharp rise in incoming orders mainly to large orders for a power station in St. Petersburg, telecommunications links between Moscow and Khabarovsk and a project to modernize the Magnitogorsk steel works.