Azerbaijan, Baku, May 18 / Trend /
The Board of Governors of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has elected the new president of the bank, EBRD reported on Friday.
EBRD shareholders have elected Permanent Secretary (senior civil servant) at the UK's Ministry of Justice, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, as the new President of the Bank for the next 4 years.
The elections were held during the Annual Meeting in London.
Sir Suma, currently the most senior civil servant in the British Ministry of Justice, speaking on his election, said, "It's an honour to be elected President of the EBRD as it continues its outstanding work and as it rises to the challenges of the future. It is a huge privilege to follow on from Thomas Mirow and I want to congratulate him for everything he has achieved. The open, fair and merit-based process has been a credit to the Bank and to all the other candidates and I want to thank them for the excellent campaigns that they have run. I look forward to the great privilege that it will be to serve the EBRD, its shareholders and staff as we work to address the challenges that we face."
President Mirow congratulated his successor. "I wholeheartedly congratulate Sir Suma and wish him the best of luck. It has been a privilege and an honour to lead the EBRD over the past four years. I pay tribute to the Bank's staff who have put in such a strong performance during that time."
Sir Suma has long experience in international development economics and policy-making. Prior to taking his position at the Ministry of Justice he headed the UK's Department of International Development. Sir Suma worked closely with economies undergoing substantial reform in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East and North Africa. He played a key role developing the UK's successful Know-How Fund for Central and Eastern Europe, set up in the early 1990s, and worked with the European Commission in improving its programmes in the Middle East and North Africa. After studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford, he took a Masters in Development Economics at the University of Sussex.
Five candidates, including the bank's previous president Thomas Mirow, applied for the post to head the bank.
Among the candidates were also former prime minister of Poland Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and Minister of Science and Technological Development of Serbia Bozidar Djelic, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Philippe de Fontaine Vive Curtaz.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was established in 1991. EBRD is a bank whose assets are used to build market economies and democracies in 30 countries - from Central Europe to Central Asia. It is owned by 61 countries and two international organizations.
EBRD is the largest investor in the region and besides allocating its own funds mobilizes significant foreign direct investment.
EBRD since the beginning of the 90s has conducted active operations in Azerbaijan.
The Bank's strategy in Azerbaijan is aimed at promoting small-scale private enterprises, developing banking sector and non-oil sector of the economy. To date the EBRD has allocated more than $1.5 billion to Azerbaijan to finance 120 projects in various sectors of the economy of Azerbaijan.