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BRICS bank set to finance Russian projects, snags due to West’s actions — diplomat

Since former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff became head of the BRICS New Development Bank, Russia has noted "the efforts by the management of this financial association to find creative solution to this problem," Sergey Ryabkov said

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) has not refused to finance any projects in Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a news conference devoted to the results of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, clarifying that snags in carrying out NDB financing for such projects are strictly due to hostile actions by Western countries.

"The New Development Bank has not refused to finance projects in Russia. Difficulties have appeared, however, in certain aspects of the implementation of this work due to sanctions pressure applied by Western groups with hostile intent toward us," he said.

Since former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff became head of the BRICS New Development Bank, Russia has noted "the efforts by the management of this financial association to find creative solution to this problem," Ryabkov said. "Russian President [Vladimir Putin] held a separate meeting with Dilma Rousseff at the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg," he added. "We continue clearing up, let’s say, certain issues that are necessary to overcome in order to resume cooperation with the bank on a stable, full-fledged basis, although I should stress that nothing dramatic has occurred in this area," the diplomat said.

The agreement to establish the BRICS New Development Bank was reached in July 2014 at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil. The Shanghai-headquartered bank has been set up to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects being undertaken by BRICS member states and other developing countries. Since its inception, the bank has approved 98 projects for a total of $33.2 bln in areas such as transportation, water supply, clean energy, digital and social infrastructure, and urban construction.