The visit risks further eroding ties between Tokyo and Moscow which were hit hard after President Dmitry Medvedev visited Kunashir months ago.
A top Russian official provoked Japan on Monday as he pay a visit to two Pacific islands claimed by Tokyo.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's influential first deputy in charge of economic affairs, Igor Shuvalov, visited Kunashir and Iturup islands, two of the four Kuril disputed Islands, his spokesman told AFP news agency.
Accompanied by senior government officials and businessmen, he was inspecting progress of a government program to develop the islands through 2015, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
"The main recipe for a region that is successful socially and economically is the strengthening of competition among small businesses and the development of infrastructure," Shuvalov said in comments relayed by his spokesman.
"A competitive atmosphere in the region should be friendly."
For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan immediately voiced disappointment over Shuvalov's visit.
"It is very regrettable," Kan told reporters, adding that the Japanese foreign ministry had protested at the visit to the Russian ambassador in Tokyo.
The visit risks further eroding ties between Tokyo and Moscow which were hit hard after President Dmitry Medvedev visited Kunashir on November 1 in the first ever visit by a Russian leader to the territory, when he pledged new investment for the islands.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's influential first deputy in charge of economic affairs, Igor Shuvalov, visited Kunashir and Iturup islands, two of the four Kuril disputed Islands, his spokesman told AFP news agency.
Accompanied by senior government officials and businessmen, he was inspecting progress of a government program to develop the islands through 2015, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
"The main recipe for a region that is successful socially and economically is the strengthening of competition among small businesses and the development of infrastructure," Shuvalov said in comments relayed by his spokesman.
"A competitive atmosphere in the region should be friendly."
For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan immediately voiced disappointment over Shuvalov's visit.
"It is very regrettable," Kan told reporters, adding that the Japanese foreign ministry had protested at the visit to the Russian ambassador in Tokyo.
The visit risks further eroding ties between Tokyo and Moscow which were hit hard after President Dmitry Medvedev visited Kunashir on November 1 in the first ever visit by a Russian leader to the territory, when he pledged new investment for the islands.
