GE signs energy, healthcare deals in Russia

General Electric Company (GE) announced Friday it has reached two separate deals in Russia that could generate between $10 billion and $15 billion in sales. The agreements focus on the energy and healthcare industries. The energy deal allows GE to manufacture and sell natural-gas turbines in Russia. The healthcare deal clears the conglomerate to make and sell advanced medical diagnostic equipment. The products will be built in Russia, with GE running the operations. The company will begin building a plant for its turbine operation later this year, and it expects to build turbines with a total generating capacity of up to 5 gigawatts of power. The new Russian energy business is a joint venture with Inter RAO UEs, one of the country's biggest power companies, and Russia's United Engine Corporation. Under the healthcare agreement, a joint venture with Russian Technologies, GE said it will start making CT (computerized tomography) scanners and then expand to other types of diagnostic equipment. The company estimates Russia has a need for about 3,000 CT scanners. The country plans to spend more than $30 billion by 2014 on healthcare, GE said. GE has been working in Russia for nearly a century. Its Russian operation, headquartered in Moscow, crosses a variety of fields, including healthcare, transportation, aviation, electrical power, oil and gas, water treatment, and financial services.