Exclusive: BRICS Bank likely to operate from 2015
June 21, 2013, 11:13 am

The establishment of the BRICS Development Bank is high on the agenda at the forum in Russia [TBP]

The establishment of the BRICS Development Bank was high on the agenda.

Russia’s deputy finance minister Sergei Storchak said the Bank may start operating as early as 2015.

“We are at the very beginning, but 2015 sounds feasible. By this time we will agree on the principal capital and the amount each country will contribute to the bank,” Storchk said.

It is not clear yet, whether the bank will be financing investment projects in the five BRICS states or whether it will expand to other emerging markets.

Storchak added that the experience of the post-WW2 period and Bretton Woods will be helpful for the BRICS states while elaborating the grounds for the bank.

In an exclusive interview to The BRICS Post, the deputy finance minister said there is hard work ahead as only a political decision has been made so far.

“What is done is the political decision taken by the leaders that the creation of the bank is viable and reliable. That’s the only sign that we have at this stage. We will have to discuss lots of different things starting from the level of capital.” Storchak told The BRICS Post.

He also said the G20 summit in St Petersburg this September will see the BRICS leaders meeting and they will be updated on the status of the work till now.

Kirill Dmitirev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund says the BRICS Bank is likely to deal with two primary trajectories – infrastructure and projects of high synergy effect.

He said the world will witness investments in infrastructure worth at least $60 trillion by 2030, which is 60 per cent more than the $36 trillion spent over the past 18 years.

Regarding the synergetic projects, Dmitriev cited the volume of Russia-India investment and said “it’s small, but the synergetic effect is very large.”

The establishment of the BRICS development Bank is largely seen as the first significant step of the bloc of five.

Significantly, the SPIEF panel concluded that the next step on the BRICS agenda should be to reduce dependence on the dollar and the euro in mutual trade.

By Daria Chernyshova in St Petersburg, Russia for The BRICS Post