Tokyo demands immediate lifting of seizure of Japan Tobacco's Russian assets

Tokyo has protested to Moscow and demanded the immediate release of Russian assets of the Japan Tobacco company, seized on orders from the Kremlin, Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said on Friday. Two Japanese ministers visiting Russia "submitted a (note to) protest to the Russian government, jointly with the Japanese ambassador to Russia, and demand the immediate withdrawal of this measure", indicated Mr. Kihara.

A little earlier, the company Japan Tobacco International (JTI) announced that it was examining “possible measures” after the seizure ordered Thursday by Moscow of its assets in Russia. “Our group has continued its activities in Russia while respecting all national and international sanctions and regulations,” the company said in a statement, adding that it is “studying (...) the possible measures that we can take and the impact on our group”. Japan Tobacco International (JTI) had indicated that four of the group's production subsidiaries in Russia had been placed under temporary control.

According to a decree issued by Moscow on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that the assets in Russia of the tobacco company JTI be transferred to a Russian company for their “temporary management”.

Russia and Japan, who have had a decades-long territorial dispute over a string of Pacific islands, have had tense relations since Tokyo participated in sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine. In mid-October, the arrest on the island of Sakhalin, in the Russian Far East, of a Japanese journalist working for the regional daily Hokkaido Shimbun sparked renewed tension. Russian diplomacy has accused Japan of using its journalists accredited in the country for espionage purposes, which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has denied.

The placing under “temporary administration” of JTI's assets in Russia comes after similar decisions concerning in particular the assets of the Russian subsidiary of the French distributor Auchan and the former entity of the French group Leroy Merlin, but also those of the Swiss agri-food giant Nestlé. Russia cited their membership in “unfriendly” countries supporting Ukraine.

Since the large-scale Russian offensive in Ukraine launched in February 2022 and the first economic sanctions decreed by the West, many multinationals have left Russia, others have suspended their activities there and their assets have been seized and transferred to Russian companies. But certain brands have remained established, which has sometimes earned them strong criticism from Ukraine - and beyond - on the grounds that they would thus participate in the financing of the Russian state and therefore of the war effort.