A substantial contribution to the further development of good-neighbourly relations between the two countries, the politician believes, can be made by a Russian-Japanese programme for scrapping the decommissioned submarines of the Pacific Fleet. “The government of Japan has already allocated 180 million dollars for the realisation of this major and important military and environmental project,” said Kazunori.

The Japanese delegation visited the town of Bolshoi Kamen, where at the Zvezda shipyard recycling nuclear submarines, it got acquainted with progress in the disposal of Victor 3 Class nuclear submarines. In the current year, with financial support from Japan, Zvezda is already scrapping the first Victor 3 submarine. The dismantling of the next nuclear submarine is planned for 2005. All in all, there are more than 40 decommissioned submarines of the Russian Pacific Fleet waiting for disposal. Japan has already poured 250 million dollars in the Star of Hope decommissioning programme, AFP reported.