Issues of international energy cooperation were discussed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) within the framework of a working meeting between the RF Minister for Development of the Far East – Alexander Galushka and the General Director of Rosseti PJSC – Oleg Budargin and the BOD Chairman and Executive Director of SoftBank Group Corp. – Masayoshi Son, plus the Senior Managing Director of the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) – Tadashi Maeda. At issue was a project envisioning the connection of Northeast Asian energy systems by ultrahigh-voltage transmission line and the implementation of a concept for an Asian Energy Super-Ring between Russia – Japan – South Korea – PRC.
Alexander Galushka, Head of the RF Ministry for Development of the Far East, noted the intensification of Russian-Japanese relations observed in recent days.
According to SoftBank Chief Masayoshi Son, in Asia, where a full one-third of the planet’s population lives, the importance of electric power is enormous: “78 percent of total Asian generation is consumed within the confines of the Russia – Japan – South Korea – China ring. It would seem only logical for our four countries to unify within a single energy ring.” Masayoshi Son also underscored the mutual benefits offered by the proposed project, particularly in view of the vast energy resources found in Russia and their relative scarcity in Japan.
The parties agreed to work on elaborating the project to the fullest extent possible.