TOKYO, April 10. /TASS/. The Japanese government will continue to step up sanctions pressure on Russia, while strengthening support for Ukraine, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced at a regular press conference on Monday.
"To protect the international order, as the chair of the G7 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Japan - in close cooperation with the international community, primarily with the G7 - will continue to strengthen tough sanctions against the Russian Federation and support for Ukraine," he said.
Japan's sanctions, which were introduced in several stages due to the situation in Ukraine, already affect about 1,000 Russian individuals and roughly 100 Russia-based entities. In addition, the assets of Alfa-Bank, VTB, VEB.RF, Novikombank, Otkritie Bank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Sberbank, and Sovcombank, as well as about 40 other entities have been frozen.
Japan has also approved a list of goods and technologies that are banned for export, which already enumerates about 800 items. In particular, it includes semiconductors, maritime and aviation security equipment, telecommunications and communications equipment, military products (including weapons), software, oil refining equipment, trucks and dump trucks, bulldozers, railway locomotives, machine tools and other electrical equipment used in industry.
A ban was also imposed on the supply of luxury goods to Russia, including cars worth more than 6 million yen (about $49,000), as well as on the import of gold from Russia. It also banned the export of a number of chemicals to Russia, including chlorine, methanol, acetone, ethylene and sodium hypochlorite.