Putin: Russia, Japan need to prepare decisive cooperation steps

VLADIVOSTOK, Sep 5 (PRIME) -- Russia and Japan are ready for decisive steps aimed at cooperation but these measures first need to be prepared, President Vladimir Putin said on September 3.

“The foreign affairs ministers are actively working on this, we will support them on the political level. And of course, just like (Japanese Prime Minister) Shinzo (Abe) said, we are ready for decisive steps, but the decisive steps also need to be prepared well,” Putin said.

Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said that the Russian and Japanese governments will prepare a meeting between Putin and Abe in November during an APEC summit.

“We understand how the governments of the two countries need to work until the end of November because, as it was said (at a meeting between Putin and Abe on September 2) maybe, in November a meeting of the two leaders will be held on the sidelines of an APEC summit,” Shuvalov said.

After the last meeting, Abe announced the establishment of a post of a minister for economic cooperation with Russia and offered Putin to meet once a year to discuss the implementation of the cooperation development plan.

Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said that Russia has already agreed with state Japanese banks on special conditions of loans for Russian projects. “There are several Japanese banks which are unafraid of sanctions, this is firstly, JBIC. This is why we are talking about involving these banks.”

He said that under Japanese law, state banks need about 40% private bank participation in order to give loans. “We are trying to agree and have come to an agreement with the Japanese that they will make an exclusion and that Japanese banks will be ready to finance by 100%, this is what I am talking about.”

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