Mr. Dimitar Radev who used to be an advisor with the IMF till now and whose candidacy was elected by the party with a majority in the coalitional government – GERB, was elected a new governor of the Central Bank of Bulgaria /BNB/. 130 out of a total of 180 MPs voted positively at an urgent sitting of the parliament. His application was supported by GERB’s coalitional partners – the Reformist Bloc and ABR and also by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Bulgarian Democratic Center. The newly elected governor of the BNB will take over on July 15.

“I would like to thank you for your interest in the subject on the election of a BNB manager and also for the correct coverage,” Mr. Radev stated right after the vote. “I think that the entire procedure received objective and critical media coverage, based on facts. The media provided professional depth and a technocratic approach which lacked within the political process. My first task tomorrow after stepping into office will be to submit the nominations for deputy governors of the Central Bank. As the issue has been raised many times I will allow myself to violate the procedure a bit and will announce their names: old assistant managers Kalin Hristov and Dimitar Kostov, while Nina Stoyanova will be the new face. If elected, she will be in charge of the banking department, Mr. Hristov will be responsible for the emission department and Mr. Kostov will take over the banking supervision one.”

Ironically, the career of Dimitar Kostov, now in charge of the banking supervision is linked to the position of a finance minister in the leftist cabinet of Zhan Videnov /1995 – 1997/, when 13 Bulgarian banks bankrupted.

Mr. Radev comments further that he will inspect the organization process created for a reaction to the Greek crisis and that he will maintain a transparent dialogue with media, based on the criteria, adopted by the European central Bank and the system of the European banks. Prof. Steve Hanke, the architect of the currency board in Bulgaria, criticized BNB’s communication policy in relation with the Greek crisis, saying it was delayed and perfunctory.

Mr. Radev declared the following measures that are to prevent any future CCB scenarios: reforms of the supervision, the implementation of a mechanism for solving of problems within the sector and an assessment of the financial state of banks in Bulgaria, with an accent on the quality of their assets. At the same time two of the previous deputy governors remain within the team of the new CEO.

Mr. Radev further said that he upheld Bulgaria’s membership in the EU banking union, pointing out that being a political and economic, the decision belonged to the government and the parliament, while the Central Bank would support the process.

Independent MP Velizar Enchev has recently voiced to media information on the salary of the now ex-governor Ivan Iskrov – EUR 22,500 per month, while the board members got EUR 20,000 each. Their basic salaries were much lower – EUR 4,000 and EUR 3,500 respectively. The board membership meant a bonus of EUR 1,500. The difference to the cosmic sums mentioned was due to a board decision, saying that the wages shouldn’t be lower than what’s average for the employees on the same position at commercial banks. Mr. Radev commented that he was not aware of those numbers and that he would implement the practices, adopted within the European Central Bank.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev