TOKYO, February 10. /TASS/. There is no decline in the economic relations between Russia and Japan in connection with the current international situation, Alexey Repik, head of the Russian union of entrepreneurs "Delovaya Rossiya" and member of the Civic Chamber, told TASS on Tuesday. By 2019, "the sun will rise" in the relations between the two countries, Repik, who heads the Russian business delegation currently on a visit in Japan, noted.

"Restrictions are always harmful. It is always much more comfortable to do business when there are no external factors limiting the realization of one’s potential to the fullest," he said. "It is absolutely inappropriate to talk about the decline in the economic cooperation between Russia and Japan, especially here, in the Land of the Rising Sun. The sun of the Russian-Japanese business is only rising. I am confident that we will be able to see the results of the last years’ work in 2-3 or 4 years," Repik added.

"Russia was very delicate in approaching the issue of restricting food imports from Japan," he stressed. However, "some joint activities were suspended," Repik said. "This is connected, in the first place, with cooperation in specific spheres, in particular, in the defense industry," he noted.

The devaluation of the Russian national currency ruble definitely affects the attractiveness of certain projects, Repik said. "It is becoming less popular to import products from abroad. It is now more popular to produce in Russia, while focusing on the markets of the third countries," Repik said.

"A number of meetings that we have held demonstrate that Japanese companies are not in a haste to curtail long-term investment, taking into account long-term planning and wish to get stable and sustainable profits for investors," he added.