



Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak called on Greece to join BRICS bank, an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, during an interview with Greek news agency ANA-MPA. Referring to the Greek-Russian relations, Sergei Storchak stressed that they can be developed even further in different sectors using the Russian ruble as the currency for payments of goods and services.

The role of this new institution is to create a development bank, which will support major construction projects. Profit will not be the bank’s priority goal, while it will be accessible to all the United Nations member-states.

“We agreed that 50% of the Bank’s authorized capital will be distributed among the founding member-states and while the rest will be divided between the new members,” he said. “So it would not surprise us if Greece will be the first state to submit a funding request as a full member. The Greek authorities will be able to buy as many shares of stock as they wish. When Greece joins the Bank, it will be able to borrow money for a series of purposes or for the implementation of national development plans.”

There is little chance that Greece will face problems with the EU, if it becomes a member of BRICS, since many EU member-states have decided to join other development institutions.

The two countries can cooperate in the economic, financial, cultural, political sector as well as others and predict use of the national currency, at least in Russia’s case, using the Russian ruble in their payments for goods and services. “When we overcome the financial difficulties and given the political environment of our countries, I believe that most Russians and private companies will be willing to invest in Greece,” he added.

PM Tsipras: Greece will closely examine invitation to join BRICS bank

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday spoke on the telephone with visiting Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, who repeated his invitation to Greece to join a new BRICS Development Bank as its sixth member. Storchak was in Greece on Monday as a representative of the BRICS development bank, set up by the emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The prime minister thanked Storchak for the invitation, saying it was a pleasant surprise, and also expressed Greece’s interest and promised that it will examine the proposal in depth, the sources said. Tsipras said he would have an opportunity to discuss the proposal at length with the BRICS country leaders when he visits St. Petersburg for the International Economic Forum (SPIEF) taking place there on June 18-20.



