SHANGHAI, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president Thursday proposed creating an energy club within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and said Russia could finance some economic projects pursued by the six-nation regional forum.
Speaking at the SCO's annual heads-of-state summit, Vladimir Putin said: "I believe that creating a SCO energy club is a pressing issue, as is more intensive cooperation in transport and communications."
"Russia is considering financing some projects in the economic sphere," he said, adding that the forum had the "appropriate organizational and legal structure" to advance lucrative economic projects.
The SCO, founded in 2001 by Russia and China plus former Soviet Central Asian republics Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, originally dealt with security and confidence-building issues, but has broadened its priorities to include economic cooperation as well as transportation, disaster-relief, and cultural projects.
