MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Algeria is one of the leading candidates to join BRICS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RT Arabic that was published on the ministry’s website on Wednesday.

Lavrov said several countries had officially asked to join the group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"The number of these requests - more than five - exceeds the number of the original members of BRICS. We agreed at the most recent events of the five countries that took place last year and were chaired by China that it’s necessary to develop shared approaches toward these requests. As the first step, we will agree on the criteria, parameters and conditions for accepting new members to our group. Algeria, with all its qualities, is one of the leaders among the candidates," the minister said.

In 2006, Brazil, Russia, India and China established the BRIC group. The Republic of South Africa joined it in 2011, turning it into BRICS. South Africa assumed the presidency of the BRICS group on January 1.

Diplomatic sources in the South African capital told TASS that BRICS will hold talks in the next few months on its potential expansion. Algeria, Argentina and Iran have already applied to join BRICS, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt have announced they are interested in gaining membership in this group.