Post Of Minister For Economic Cooperation With Russia Will Not Be Abolished - Kishida

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2023) The Japanese minister for economic cooperation with Russia and his deputy will not be fired and their position will not be abolished, as in the current conditions, they are helping Japanese companies exit the Russian market, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday.

Kishida was answering a question from former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who noted that Japan and Russia's joint economic activity was now frozen, but despite this, the posts of minister and deputy minister for economic cooperation with Russia remained.

"Due to the situation in Ukraine, the relations with Russia cannot remain the same. Therefore, there is no investment in the Russian economy under the eight-point plan.

You asked why then the posts of the minister and deputy minister are needed. The situation that developed last year affects Japanese companies in various ways. There were many Japanese companies that entered the Russian market in the hope of developing economic cooperation with Russia, but now they are dealing with the settlement of assets, transfer of funds and other formalities in order to leave the Russian market ... (we) need to provide information on local legislation and help with a smooth exit from the market. For these reasons, we are not going to eliminate the post of minister now," Kishida said.

He also added that Japan still intended to negotiate with Russia over the ownership of the South Kuril Islands: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai.