Russian president discusses establishment of BRICS bank with South African leader

PRETORIA, May 11. /TASS/. Presidents of the South African Republic and Russia, Jacob Zuma and Vladimir Putin, discussed progress in establishment of the New Development Bank of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, SAR) at a meeting during celebration of the 70th anniversary in WWII in Moscow, South Africa’s presidential administration said on Monday.

It said, Zuma welcomed Russia as first BRICS country to have ratified the agreement on the new bank on April 20, 2015.

South Africa has been working actively on ratification of the agreements on the New Bank and on the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, about which the member countries agreed at a summit in Brazil in 2014. A regional African center in Johannesburg will open simultaneously with the opening of the BRICS bank’s headquarters in Shanghai, the presidential administration said.

Zuma and Putin also discussed preparations for the 7th BRICS summit due in Russia on July 8-9.

The presidents agreed to develop cooperation in different spheres, including trade, and to offer new options in mining, energy and agriculture, the statement reads.

President Zuma greeted President Putin on the 70th anniversary of the Victory over fascist Germany in the Great Patriotic War, which meant end of World War II in 1945, the presidential administration said.