The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed Akira Maejima, a former assistant director in charge of aid projects for Russia, following his indictment late last month, a Foreign Ministry official said.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Maejima, 38, among others, on July 24 on a charge of illegally manipulating the bidding for a public works project for Kunashiri Island, a Russian-held island claimed by Japan, in 2000.

Maejima is accused of helping Mitsui & Co. win the Kunashiri project by supplying the firm with information from which an estimated tender price was calculated, according to the indictment.

The dismissal of Maejima comes after the Foreign Ministry confirmed that information was leaked after the ministry questioned Maejima following his release on bail on July 26, according to the official.

Maejima allegedly had close ties with indicted lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, who is said to have exerted excessive influence in Foreign Ministry decisions.

According to the indictment, Mitsui employees asked rival trading houses Sumitomo Corp. and Kanematsu Corp. to bid for the government-funded diesel-power generation project on Kunashiri Island off Hokkaido in March 2000, but to do so in a way that would allow Mitsui to win the contract.

Mitsui eventually won the contract with a quote of 1.99 billion yen, which was 99.9 percent of the budget the government estimated for the project.

Sumitomo and Kanematsu submitted quotes of 2.2 billion yen.

The power-generation project was part of Japan's goodwill program to help the residents of Kunashiri and three other Russian-held islands off northeastern Hokkaido that are also claimed by Japan.

Maejima was earlier indicted on a breach of trust charge.