Russia transfers Sakhalin-2 to new operator without compensation

Putin move raises fears Japan's Mitsui, Mitsubishi may be excluded from new deal

Liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project is loaded onto a tanker in the Russian port of Prigorodnoye last October. © AP

Nikkei staff writers

July 1, 2022 09:30 JST

Updated on July 1, 2022 17:48 JST

TOKYO -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered that the assets of Sakhalin-2, an oil and natural gas development project in Russia's Far East, be transferred to a newly established Russian corporation without compensation.

The presidential order signed on Thursday has raised concerns in Japan that Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp., the two Japanese participants in the project, may now be excluded from it.