PRETORIA, January 23. /TASS/. Russia shares the priorities of South Africa in its capacity as the chair of the BRICS economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and will provide active support in the implementation of their proposed plans, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"We enjoyed a detailed discussion about our cooperation within the BRICS format," Lavrov said, speaking at a press conference following his talks with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor. "This is the very structure, which in our general assessment, is an example of true multilateral cooperation and multi-polar diplomacy, based on the search of the balance of interests."

"We share the priorities set out by the South African authorities, which assumed the rotating chair in the BRICS organization on January 1 under the motto: ‘BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism’," the top Russian diplomat noted.

"We wish success to our colleagues in the implementation of the proposed plans, and will definitely contribute most actively to their implementation," Lavrov added.

Moreover, Russia’s top diplomat also pointed out the active developments between the two countries in the humanitarian sphere.

"We have also focused today on the necessity of further developing our humanitarian relations, because there is a demand for this purpose. Peoples in our countries are extremely interested in the development of such ties," Lavrov stressed.

"We have expressed our readiness to considerably up the amount of scholarships provided for our South African colleagues within the framework of the federal budget," he said.

Lavrov also hailed the cooperation between Russia and South Africa in numerous spheres saying that: "We are definitely in favor of enhancing the African countries’ role in resolving key issues of our time, including in the context of the ongoing discussions on the UN Security Council reformations."

"We came up with positive assessments regarding our partnership cooperation in the framework of the United Nations and within its various committees and structures, as well as within the framework of the G20 Group, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW], and the Kimberley Process," the Russian foreign minister added.

"Speaking about the G20 formation, we actively support the interests of African countries to be represented in this organization in the capacity of the African Union (AU) member states in addition to the current participants of the global economic formation," Lavrov added.