The Japanese government has protested to Moscow after Russia decided to place the assets of the local subsidiary of Japan Tobacco, known as JT, under the management of Russian companies, and demanded the measure be withdrawn.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the officials handling the response were already in Russia. "The economic and trade vice-minister and the European affairs deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry, who are currently visiting Russia, together with the ambassador to Russia, protested to the Russian government and asked for the measure to be withdrawn immediately," Kihara said.
Kihara said the protest was made to ensure the legitimate interests of Japanese citizens and companies are not harmed. The Foreign Ministry's European affairs director-general also made the same request to Russia's ambassador to Japan, according to the government.
Kihara declined to disclose Russia's response, calling it a matter of diplomatic exchanges, and said the government will keep watching the situation.
A first for a Japanese company in Russia
The decision puts a Japanese manufacturer's Russian assets directly under the control of local entities, a step beyond the reputational and logistical costs companies have weighed since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Firms that have kept operations in Russia now face the prospect of losing those assets outright.