Indian May Become President of BRICS Bank

The candidate for the president of the BRICS Bank will be agreed upon before the BRICS summit in Ufa in July, Russian sous-sherpa for BRICS Vadim Lukov said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The candidate for the president of the BRICS Bank will be agreed upon before the group's summit in Ufa in July and will most likely be from India, the Russian sous-sherpa for BRICS said Friday.

The New Development Bank, formerly referred to as the BRICS bank, was established June 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil by the member countries.

“The BRICS partners believe that the candidacy for the bank’s presidency will be agreed upon before the Ufa summit, and [the candidate] may be a citizen from India,” sous-sherpa Vadim Lukov told journalists.

The Indian government is currently considering two candidates for the BRICS presidency, Lukov added.

Russia official said that a Russian national would likely become vice president of the bank.

The BRICS group of prominent emerging economies was established in 2010, when South Africa joined Brazil, Russia, India and China in what was previously known as the BRIC nations. The BRICS countries make up about 40 percent of the world's population and a combined economy of about $16 trillion.

The Russian sous-sherpa added that as additional members would join in the future, the founders removed the abbreviation BRICS in the name.

Russia accepted presidency of the BRICS group, taking over from Brazil on Wednesday. The program of Russia's BRICS presidency, according to Lukov, includes a total of some 110 events in ten cities of Russia and six foreign locations.

The heads of the BRICS countries will have two meetings in 2015: on July 8-9, at the organization's summit in Ufa, Russia, and on November 15 or 16, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Antalia, Turkey, the official.