After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would introduce a tariff-exempt zone in the Northern Territories, the Kremlin is rushing to make it happen.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on the 3rd of this month, announcing the introduction of a tariff-exempt zone for Japanese and foreign businesses in the Northern Territories.
Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev, who is the presidential plenipotentiary representative of the Far East, held a press conference in Moscow on the 6th, saying, "The first thing to do immediately is to complete the work to establish a special tariff zone on the Kuril Islands." He expressed his intention to hurry to introduce tariff-exempt areas on the four islands and the Kuril Islands.
In addition, a minister in charge of development policy in the Far East region said in an interview with a Russian television station broadcast on the 4th that he wanted to finish the work for introduction by the end of the year, especially in the fishery industry. We had high expectations for the advancement of companies in the tourism industry.
Regarding this one-sided announcement by President Putin, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato revealed on the 6th that he made an offer to the Russian side, saying that it was regrettable because it was incompatible with the purpose of the joint economic activities between Japan and Russia.