Russia has established a new company to take over the Sakhalin-2 oil and liquefied natural gas project in the country's Far East.

Two Japanese trading houses are involved in the project. Mitsui & Company holds a 12.5 percent stake, and Mitsubishi Corporation has a 10 percent stake.

The Kremlin made the announcement on Friday. The new firm's name is Sakhalinskaya Energija. It's Russian for Sakhalin Energy, which is the name of the former operator.

Officials say it will be based in the Sakhalin region's main city, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, where the former operator was also headquartered.

They say Andrey Oleynikov, a senior official of Sakhalin Energy, will head the new firm.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order on June 30 to form a new company and transfer the assets of Sakhalin Energy.

The order also requires the project's foreign shareholders to notify Russia within a month from the launch of the new firm whether they wish to continue investing.

Putin signed a decree on Friday banning investors in "unfriendly" countries from selling shares in Russian firms until the end of the year.

The ban covers the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project off the coast of Sakhalin Island. Japanese trading firms Itochu and Marubeni are involved.