22 Apr 2004 17:16
22.04.2004 16:59:35 Russia wants talks with Japan on "tsarist gold"
By Maria Golovnina
MOSCOW, April 22 (Reuters) - Russia wants to start talks
with Japan to return billions of dollars worth of the last
tsar's gold which ended up in a Tokyo bank in the chaotic years
of the Russian Civil War, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The gold, shipped to Japan by "white army" commander Admiral
Alexander Kolchak in the closing days of anti-Bolshevik
resistance, remains an irritant to Moscow's warming relations
with Tokyo along with a territorial dispute in the far east.
Tokyo and Moscow, which have yet to sign a peace treaty
formally ending their World War Two conflict, have made little
progress on the fate of the tsarist gold since the issue sprang
to the top of their bilateral agenda after the Soviet collapse.
But recently, Russia made "certain investigations and
inquiries to the Japanese side," Interfax news agency quoted
foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko as saying.
"The theme of the Russian gold in Japan is not a subject of
diplomatic negotiations between our countries at the moment. But
this does not mean the Russian foreign ministry is ignoring the
issue," Yakovenko said.
"Russia and Japan are trying to build good, neighbourly
relations...Such trust calls to remove doubts and stop sweeping
things under the carpet."
In 1994, Russia unearthed documents testifying that Admiral
Kolchak, a "white" commander killed by the Bolsheviks in 1920,
had sent at least 22 boxes filled with gold ingots to Japan for
storage.
Researcher Vladlen Sirotkin, in a widely publicised study in
2000, said the gold was given to Japan in exchange for weapons,
but Admiral Kolchak had received no military hardware.
Sirotkin estimated that, if interest is taken into account
for the time the gold has been in Japan, it would now be worth
$80 billion, similar to Russia's total gold and foreign currency
reserves and enough to pay two-thirds of Russia's foreign debt.
Interfax said the bullion is now held at Japan's Bank of
Tokyo Mitsubishi. But diplomatic sources say a lack of evidence
prevents Russia from turning it into a big diplomatic issue.
Japan has not officially commented on the matter.
Russia has refused Japan's demand to return four small
islands in the far east seized in the final days of World War
Two.
According to some estimates, Russia has claims to foreign
property worth up to $400 billion, including tonnes of tsarist
gold stored in Japanese, European and U.S. banks.
((Editing by Charles Dick; Reuters Messaging
maria.golovnina.reuters.com@reuters.net, +7095 775 12 42,
maria.golovnina@reuters.com))
© Reuters 2004