SAO PAULO, February 27. /TASS/. Russia will propose to the BRICS members to form an alternative banking structure to secure trade operations that are politically autonomous, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Bloomberg Saudi Arabia TV on the sidelines of a meeting of BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"In order for the BRICS countries to develop normally, we need to think about creating our own financial systems functioning independently of politics and ensuring trade relations between our countries," Siluanov said.

According to him, trade among the BRICS countries is expanding. "For these trade flows to work, we need a reliable payment mechanism. Today we will propose to establish an independent settlement payment system based on new principles, first and foremost digital and blockchain principles, principles that could be comfortable for countries, inexpensive for making payments, and clear," Siluanov stated.