The Russian government has approved the decision of Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. to keep its stake in the Sakhalin-2 oil and natural gas project in the Far East.

Moscow announced in a decree on Tuesday that it allows the handover of a 12.5-percent stake in a newly established company that took over the project.

The percentage is the same as the stake Mitsui had in the former operator.

In early August, Russia told Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corporation that they needed to decide within a month whether they wanted to acquire shares in the new firm. Both companies have decided to take a stake.