On September 3-5, 2015, the first Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) was held in the Russian city of Vladivostok. The summit became a place where representatives from different countries were able to discuss issues of cooperation in various fields. One of the important topics for discussion was a proposal of Japanese top officials to use the yen in conducting mutual transactions. Currently, the US dollar is the accounting currency between two countries. Western sanctions became the main reason for such bilateral measures, as they could undermine business relationships between Russia and Japan. "The newly-emerged threat is the negative effect of sanctions, in particular, those by the United States. Many Japanese banks maintain extensive business operations in the United States. In the context of sanctions (against Russia) Washington can impose restrictions on any transactions by these banks. We are unable to use the US dollar in granting credit lines. We can use only the yen, and this entails technical problems. We have suggested that our Russian partners explore the possibility of using the Japanese yen as an extra currency," the Senior Managing Director of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Tadashi Maeda said during the EEF. He offered to start using the Japanese yen as an additional currency and, further, as the major one instead of the US dollar.
