Japan, Russia in talks on joint development of Siberian oilfield.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo

Moscow, 8 June: Talks between Japan and Russia are progressing over a proposal to have Japanese firms join Russian development of a Siberian oilfield in connection with a project to lay a Pacific coast-bound pipeline, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday [8 June]. The two governments are talking to open the way for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluding a deal to this effect during a bilateral meeting in mid-July in St Petersburg to be held on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit, the sources said. …