TOKYO, May 31. /TASS/. Japan will not exit the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project even if asked to do so, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagiuda said addressing the parliament on Tuesday.

"Sakhalin-2 is an asset, on acquiring which our predecessors worked hard. Russia is the owner of the land, though tenancy and equipment for liquefaction and transportation belong to the Japanese government and Japanese companies. We do not intent to leave (the project - TASS) even if asked to do so," he said.

Sakhalin-2 is being implemented in Russia’s Sakhalin under a production sharing agreement. Sakhalin Energy is its operator, in which Gazprom has a controlling stake (50% plus one share), Japan’s Mitsui has 12.5% of shares, while Mitsubishi - 10%. The majority of LNG produced within the project flows to Japan.

Russia’s share in the total volume of Japanese LNG imports amounted to around 8.8% over the past years. Japan receives the main part of Russian LNG from Sakhalin.