The influential Japanese business newspaper “nikkey” in the next issue published the news that Sberbank will take a loan in the amount of $38.5 million from the Japanese Bank JBIC. The news noted that the decision on granting the loan based on the interest in prompt resolution of problems of belonging of the South Kuril Islands.
As the newspaper writes, in December of this year there will be a meeting between Russia and Japan, during which sides will discuss the issues related to the question of territorial belonging of the South Kuril Islands. In a sign of the intention to reach a General agreement of Japanese government JBIC, the Bank will allocate to the Russian Sberbank, which is under sanctions of EU and the US, a loan in the amount of 38.5 million dollars (4 billion yen).
At the same time, the formal allocation of this loan will occur within the implementation plan of the interstate economic cooperation, which was proposed by Vladimir Putin on may 6 in Sochi, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. In particular, this plat contains paths of development, not only economic, but also energy, humanitarian, nuclear and energy cooperation. In addition, the plan includes the promotion of industrialization of the Far East that combines work in the field of modern technologies, and the development of small and medium businesses.
It should be noted that the granting of loans to Russian banks in the Japanese currency does not fall under Western sanctions, however in 2014 the volume of loans in yen fell sharply. According to experts, reducing the level of lending to Russian banks, the Japanese currency is due to the fact that Japan’s banks are trying to avoid cooperation with Russia so as not to cause a negative reaction from the United States.
Earlier media reported about a possible Bank financing JBIC project “Yamal LNG”, which implements the Russian gas company “NOVATEK”. The estimated investment could reach about 200 million U.S. dollars.
