The relations between Russia and Japan have collapsed against the background of the crisis in Ukraine, Alexander Panov, Russia's former ambassador to Japan said.
However, one should not consider this a point of no return, as such things have happened before. For example, the countries managed to restore bilateral relations after their decline during the Soviet times, the official said.
Commenting on Putin's decree to transfer the property of Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project operator to state ownership, Panov said that this would not affect the supplies of liquefied natural gas to Japan. According to him, Russia does not want to lose the Japanese market, while Tokyo is still interested in gas supplies, lenta.ru reports.
On June 30, the President of Russia signed a decree on special measures in the fuel and energy sector in connection with the unfriendly actions of foreign states. The document requires Sakhalin Energy to change the operator of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project and transfer the company's property to state ownership.
The shares in the authorized capital of the new Sakhalin-2 operator that is to be established instead of Sakhalin Energy, will be owned by Gazprom Sakhalin Holding and the new operator company. Foreign participants must notify the Russian government a month in advance of their consent to accept their shares in the new operator, in proportion to the current ones. The Japanese government hopes that Moscow's decision will not affect its rights and interests in the project.
The Sakhalin-2 project is an oil and gas development in Sakhalin Island, Russia. It includes development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye oil field and the Lunskoye natural gas field offshore Sakhalin Island in the Okhotsk Sea, and associated infrastructure onshore.