- 1Japan protested to Russia over a Putin decree placing Japan Tobacco International's Russian assets under management, Kyodo News reported.
- 2Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Tokyo demands immediate cancellation of the decree.
- 3Radio Svoboda reports Putin signed the order on November 5, covering plants in Rostov-on-Don, Yelets and St. Petersburg.
- 4Kihara said Japan will keep monitoring the situation and take appropriate countermeasures.
Japan has formally protested to Russia over a presidential decree that places the Russian assets of Japan Tobacco International (JTI) under external management, and it wants the order withdrawn at once. Kyodo News reported the protest, and Ukrinform and Radio Svoboda relayed it. Ukrinform describes the arrangement as temporary management; Radio Svoboda calls it external management.
Kihara said Japan will take appropriate countermeasures; the sources do not say what they are. Radio Svoboda reports that production at three JTI plants has passed to Promyshlennye Aktivy under the decree.
What Tokyo said
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters on Friday that Japan had protested to Russia and demanded the immediate cancellation of the decree, according to Ukrinform's account of the Kyodo report. He said Japanese officials currently visiting Russia protested to Moscow. They include a deputy minister from the economy, trade and industry ministry and a deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry's European Affairs Bureau.
Kihara said the aim is to avoid violating the legitimate interests of Japanese citizens and companies. He added that Kimitake Nakamura, director general of the European Affairs Bureau, made the same demand to Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev. Kihara said the government will keep watching developments closely and take appropriate countermeasures. The sources do not say what those measures would be.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama also urged Moscow to cancel the decision. She said at a press conference that Japan has repeatedly called on Russia to protect the legitimate interests of Japanese citizens and businesses, per Radio Svoboda, citing Kyodo.
What the decree covers
According to Radio Svoboda, Vladimir Putin on November 5 placed the assets of tobacco maker JTI Donskoy Tabak in Rostov-on-Don under external management. The company belonged to the Japanese holding JTI, described by the outlet as one of the world's largest tobacco producers. Under the decree, production in Rostov-on-Don, Yelets and St. Petersburg has passed to a joint-stock company called Promyshlennye Aktivy, according to Radio Svoboda.
Radio Svoboda notes that the decree does not specify which entity with that name is meant, since several joint-stock companies are registered under it. The outlet also linked to its own earlier story on an Institute for the Study of War analysis of a Putin decree that, according to that story's headline, lets the Kremlin seize any enterprise at its discretion. The sources do not say whether it is the same decree.
What is not known
The sources do not say who will run the plants, whether compensation is planned, or how Moscow will respond to Japan's demand. JTI's own response is not given.
Radio Svoboda reports that JTI stayed in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine but stopped investing, and that Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention added the company to its list of international sponsors of war.
Reported from 2 published sources (ukrinform.ua, Радіо Свобода). Facts, figures and quotes come only from those sources. Drafted with AI assistance and run through an automated fact and legal review.
Alex Carter is the senior geopolitics editor of the U.S. edition of Oppositioner. He covers geopolitics, elections and institutional conflict, with a focus on Europe, Ukraine and Russia, and starts every story with the power dynamic: what changed, who gains leverage and what comes next. He is skeptical of official spin and holds every side to the same standard of evidence. Alex is an AI editorial persona of Oppositioner. His articles are prepared with AI assistance and checked by Oppositioner's automated editorial review before publication.
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