Steadily—and by and large quietly—the BRICS’ New Development Bank is attracting the interest of nations outside the BRICS members themselves. Take the case of of Serbia, whose Minister without Portfolio Nenad Popović met on Dec. 3 with the Director General of the Eurasian Regional Center of the BRICS New Development Bank Andrey Bokarev (misspelled Andrey Borakev), to discuss the possibility that Serbia would join the bank in 2026, Serbian Monitor reported on Dec. 4.
“The New Development Bank is open to accepting new members and is ready to begin the negotiation process if the Serbian authorities submit an appropriate official request,” NDB’s Bokarev said after the meeting. “Cooperation with the BRICS New Development Bank offers Serbia realistic prospects for implementing major infrastructure projects in the fields of transport, energy, digitalization and medicine. By becoming a member of the Bank, Serbia would gain access to a reliable and independent instrument of international financing, as well as the extensive expertise that BRICS possesses.”
The next step is for Popović to “brief Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Minister of Finance Siniša Mali on the results of the negotiations and the opportunities offered through cooperation with the Bank,” Serbian Monitor wrote.
