Mitsui & Co. announced today that Shoei Utsuda and Nobuo Ohashi have been named respectively, President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board effective September 30, 2002.

They succeed, Shinjiro Shimizu, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Shigeji Ueshima, Chairman of the Board, who have resigned effective September 30, 2002.

The change in senior management comes following the situation that three Mitsui & Co. employees were arrested by Japanese authorities on July 3, 2002 on suspicion of interfering in the bidding process for a power generation facility on the Russian-held island of Kunashiri in 2000. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office formally indicted two of the Mitsui & Co. employees on July 24, 2002. Additional questions regarding a diesel generator project in Mongolia have also been raised.

With the steadfast determination to never again allow these types of incidents to occur, and with the aim of building a Mitsui that is committed to the strictest ethical business practices across all of its operations, the new management team will endeavor to restore the public's confidence in Mitsui & Co.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

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