Top BRICS economic officials stay away from Moscow meeting

By Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Most finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the BRICS group of countries did not attend a high-level meeting in Moscow on Friday ahead of a BRICS summit later this month, sending more junior officials instead, official documents showed.

Finance ministers from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and the head of Iran's central bank were present as Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov called for the creation of an alternative to the Western-dominated global financial system.

But finance ministers and bank chiefs from China, India and South Africa stayed away, sending deputies or more junior officials instead, a day after Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov accused the West of pressuring countries not to attend the BRICS summit.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, and China, has expanded to include South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

The Moscow meeting is modeled on the Group of 20 schedule, where summits are preceded by meetings of top economic policy officials who outline proposals to be reviewed by leaders at the summit.

Russia, heavily sanctioned by the West over its war in Ukraine and cut off from international capital markets, is trying to woo BRICS partners with initiatives such as the creation of the BRICS Bridge international payment system.

"The creation of a cross-border payment initiative is our main task," Siluanov told the officials. Russia is also pushing for the creation of a BRICS clearing centre, a rating agency, a reinsurance company, and a commodities exchange.

Siluanov has also proposed setting up a joint investment platform based on the group's New Development Bank, its only functioning financial institution. The platform will use a new digital form of transactions, he said, without elaborating.

TRANSACTION DELAYS

Russia has recently experienced delays in international transactions with its trading partners, including BRICS member countries, as banks in these countries fear punitive actions from Western regulators.

The payment problems have forced Russian companies to use barter deals and cryptocurrencies to facilitate payments.

China was represented in Moscow by Deputy Finance Minister Liao Min and Deputy Central Bank Governor Changneng Xuan, and India by Finance Ministry Secretary Ajay Seth.

The summit is scheduled for Oct. 22-24 in Kazan, capital of Russia's Tatarstan region.

President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said nine of the 10 BRICS states would send their leaders, though Saudi Arabia would send its foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. The Saudi delegation was absent from the Friday meeting.

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Gareth Jones)