MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian investment projects, primarily in the country's Far East, may be financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in the first quarter of the current year, Russia's trade representative in China told Sputnik on Thursday.
"We hope that among the projects that will be accepted for financing, possibly in the first half of this year, there will be Russian ones as well. Energy, infrastructure, transport and industry are among the priority areas," Alexei Gruzdev stated in a written interview with the news agency.
"The high quality of the projects is among the basic requirements of the bank, including in terms of compliance with environmental standards. Projects must comply with the principles of the ‘green economy’ and be exceptionally eco-friendly," the trade representative noted.
Russia is one of the key members of this financial institution, Gruzdev said, adding that Moscow had attractive proposals to replenish the AIIB investment portfolio.
"Many promising Russian projects fit into the AIIB ‘mandate.’ It must not be ruled out that some of them may be submitted to the bank's board of directors," he stressed.
The AIIB, an international financial institution proposed by Beijing to invest in infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region, was established in October 2014. It has 57 founding members, including Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The bank officially started operations on January 16.
