Russian PM visits Pacific islands claimed by Japan

Russia’s prime minister yesterday visited Pacific islands claimed by Japan, a move that brought a protest from Tokyo, and said the government is considering setting up a special economic zone there.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is touring Russia’s Far East and Siberia this week, and the Kuril Islands were his first stop yesterday.
Mishustin visited a hospital and a fish plant on Iturup, one of the four southernmost Kuril islands. He told plant workers that the Russian government is considering creating a special economic zone on the islands, in which business and investors would be free of most taxes and customs duties.
The measure Russian officials is currently pondering “could be a good solution for investors, including the ones in the West, for Japan also, which, if interested, can create jobs here,” Mishustin said. He added that “this special regime will allow the intensification of economic activity” on the islands.
Mishustin said he would discuss the project with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, Putin asked the prime minister to “pay special attention” to the Kuril Islands during his trip to the Far East, noting that Moscow had been working with “Japanese partners…to create the necessary conditions for those involved in economic activity.” Daria Litvinova, Moscow, MDT/AP