Russia can play very important role in diversification of Japanese energy sources - expert

TOKYO, August 30. /TASS/. Cooperation with Russia in energy sector is very important for Japan considering instability on the Middle East and a rather slow revival of the national nuclear industry after the disaster at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in 2011, Nobuo Tanaka, president of Japan’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) said in an interview with TASS. Speaking ahead of the second Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok Tanaka said: "As you see, the current energy situation surrounding Japan has not been improved very well. Still nuclear power restarting has problems, only two or three reactors are running, the concern of the public is still there. The Middle East instability is certainly not improving very well." Tanaka believes that low oil prices do not solve all problems of Japan, which is dependent in import if natural recourses. "Currently the price of oil is still very low, but that does not necessarily mean that the future of energy is easy for Japan. We have to think about the risk of disruption in the Middle East," he said. In this situation diversification of imports of energy resources is crucially important. "Certainly we think that diversification of our sources of energy is very important and I still believe that Russia will play a very important role in diversification of Japanese energy sources," he said. The expert expressed hope that the coming EEF will give opportunity to businessmen of both countries to discuss the future of bilateral cooperation. In May, at the Russian-Japanese summit in Sochi Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed a plan for the development of co-operation, consisting of eight points. Among the areas of cooperation energy is especially important, the president of SPF said. "Energy is one of the important areas. We could have many cooperation but energy is certainly of mutual interest," Tanaka said. Tanaka who is also the former head of the International Energy Agency said that Russia is interested in markets of supply while Japan diversifies imports of natural resources. "Russia is an exporter of energy, and Japan is an importer of energy, both have very mutually helpful and important issues to discuss," he said. The 2nd Eastern Economic Forum will be held on the campus of Russia’s Federal Far-Eastern University on the Isle of Russky off the coast of Vladivostok. Its organizers expect the arrival of no less than 2,400 participants, in particular delegations from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Australia, the US, Singapore and other countries. They will discuss mechanisms and tools to support businesses, infrastructure and energy projects. For the first time the EEF was held in September last year, it was concluded more than 80 large investment contracts worth more than 1.3 trillion rubles ($20 bln). This year the forum will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye. According to the Minister for Development of the Far East Alexander Galushka 111 projects with a total investment of 2.2 trillion rubles ($34 bln) will be presented at the forum this year. It is also planned that more than 130 investment agreements in the amount of almost 1 trillion rubles ($15 bln) will be signed, but this sum may increase. Read more