Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying the deal establishing the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), according to a document published on Russia’s official website for legal information on Monday, Sputnik reported.
BRICS is a group comprising five countries with major emerging national economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
BRICS leaders agreed to create the NDB to prompt the development of financial cooperation between the five member countries in 2013
The NDB is expected to become one of the most important institutions of its kind in the world with a stated capital of $100 billion.
The lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, ratified the agreement on the NDB establishment on February 20. State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin stated that the bank would fund major infrastructure and innovative projects all over the world.
Parliamentary Assembly
A parliamentary assembly of the BRICS countries could be established in the near future on Russia’s initiative.
The issue will reportedly be discussed during the upcoming trip to India by Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov.
“We will begin cooperation to establish a parliamentary assembly of the BRICS countries. This will be one of the issues that will be discussed there,” a source told Izvestia then.
Pushkov declined from passing detailed comment on the source’s statements, but confirmed to Izvestia that Russia is set to “strengthen and give new impetus to inter-parliamentary cooperation within the BRICS format.”
