MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. BRICS may establish a raw materials exchange, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who serves as Russia’s sherpa for BRICS events, said in an interview for the first issue of the TASS "BRICS Bulletin."
"This shows that BRICS has room to grow, to develop. For example, the creation of a BRICS exchange of raw materials, commodities - why not," he said, answering a question about regulating prices in key sectors such as energy and agriculture, taking into account the fact that BRICS has both suppliers and consumers.
At the same time, the diplomat stressed that he would hardly include cartel methods here, "because this could have a negative impact <...> on global trade in such goods." "Let the experts decide. However, harmonization of approaches and stabilization of key commodity markets - so that both producers and consumers have relatively greater predictability in this area - is one of the avenues for BRICS," he concluded.
The BRICS group has gone through two waves of expansion since its inception in 2006. In 2011, South Africa joined the original group, which included Brazil, Russia, India and China. In August 2023, six new members were invited to join the association, including Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia, but at the end of December Argentina refused to join. As of January 1 this year, BRICS consists of 10 countries.