BRICS

Turkey is no Indonesia, Standard & Poor?s declared this week. 

But the two countries have many things in common. Both are composed of Muslim majorities, both are listed under the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) grouping, trailing the BRICS. Both countries have received a BB+ rating from S&P recently. 

A new $100 billion international bank dedicated to the emerging BRICS countries opened in China's commercial hub Shanghai on July 21, officials said, as an alternative to other multilateral lenders.

The "New Development Bank," backed by the so-called emerging BRICS nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been viewed as a challenge to Washington-based institutions.

Russia hosted two important gatherings, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS (the five emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summits on July 8-10, 2015, in the Russian city of Ufa, as the simultaneous holder of the rotating chairmanships of both institutions.

The declaration signed by BRICS leaders, issued at their meeting in the Russian town of Ufa, is set on confirming the organization's unified vision on issues of international importance.

A number of analysts believe that this is a step in the direction of the organization aiming at increasing its role in resolving global issues.

Nuclear talks between Iran and the world's six major powers have entered their most difficult phase, but all involved parties are working on new proposals submitted by Tehran, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on July 9.

Speaking in the wings of the BRICS Summit (An acronym for the economic  organization of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), in the Russian city of Ufa, Andrey Kostin,  CEO and President of the second largest bank in Russia, VTB, underlined that Russia could not provide any help in the Greek crisis.

Nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India will start the process of joining a security bloc led by China and Russia at a summit in Russia later this week, a senior Chinese diplomat said on July 6, the first time the grouping has expanded since it was set up in 2001. 

China's parliament ratified an agreement with the world's largest emerging nations on July 1 to create a new development bank, state news agency Xinhua reported. 

The New Development Bank, also known as the BRICS Bank, is one of two international development banks that China is promoting as an alternative to western institutions such as the World Bank. 

At a time when Luxemburg hosted the FinMins of the Eurozone on discussing the Greek matter, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, in a move based on politics and symbolism, was in St. Petersburg in President Putin’s forum. As a guest, he spoke on the natural gas pipeline and Greece’s entry into the BRICS bank.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Saint Petersburg where the pair are expected to affirm plans to see the construction of ?Greek Stream,? an extension to the pipeline that would supply natural gas to Europe.