Finance Ministry spokesman Ferenc Pichler said that Finance Minister János Veres had sent a letter to the chairman of the EBRD’s board of governors, Padoa Schioppa, informing him of Hungary’s decision to withdraw Surányi’s nomination and to support the appointment of Germany’s Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Mirow to the post of EBRD president.
The Finance Ministry spokesman told newswire MTI that Veres had also informed Schioppa of his disappointment in the EBRD’s nomination procedure, expressing his hope that negotiations regarding the appointment would be more transparent in the future.
The Financial Times wrote on Wednesday that “breaking with convention, Hungary rejected the majority view and pledged to campaign for Surányi” during a March 4 meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels in spite of the fact that the 13 eurozone members had previously nominated Mirow for the post.
“The candidates from eastern Europe had no chance. I resent that the decision was made in a narrower circle – in the consultation of eurogroup. The EBRD’s field of operations is eastern Europe,” Veres told the newspaper.
The Financial Times wrote that “ Mirow, a veteran of German regional politics, had the least experience of post-communist economies but this did not matter: he had the biggest backers” among the five EU-based candidates that had emerged for the post in February. (MTI-Econews)
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
