The Russian government announced on Thursday that it has ordered the establishment of a new entity that will take over the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in the country's Far East.

A subsidiary of state-run Rosneft has been assigned to become the new entity to take over the project.

Non-Russian shareholders will have to submit notices to the government within a month after the new company is set up. They need to state whether they will agree to retain stakes in the new firm.

Japan has a 30 percent stake in the project through Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Company, or SODECO. That holding is half owned by the Japanese government, and the rest by businesses including Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. and trading firms Itochu and Marubeni.

The Sakhalin-1 project was originally led by energy giant Exxon Mobil with Rosneft, SODECO and others as partners. But Exxon announced in March that it intends to exit from its operations in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.