The most interesting candidates for the new governor

Belgrade, March, 31. 2010 (Serbia Today) - Interviews with the candidates for the new Governor of the National Bank are largely under way, as daily "Blic" unofficially learned. It is likely that the Democratic Party coalition partners will propose Dejan Soskic, a professor of the Faculty of Economics of the Belgrade University and the President of the Council of the National Bank of Serbia as their favorite candidate.

Since the NBS Governor Radovan Jelasic suddenly resigned, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has conducted several interviews with candidates for the new governor. According to unofficial reports, prof. Dejan Šoškić and Dusan Vujovic, World Bank chief economist, are the two candidates for the position of the first man of the NBS. The public also speculated about Vladimir Čupić, Chairman of the Executive Board "Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank, Goran Pitic, Chairman of the Board," Societe Generale Bank, and Kori Udovicki, former Governor. A proposed candidate for the new Governor must be acceptable to all coalition partners. The most qualified candidate will be suggested by the Democratic Party, but this proposal must be accepted by other parties in the coalition. There are a lot of good professionals, but not all of them are qualified for this public function where specific experience is required and strong managerial skills together with political integrity and independence.

The procedure for the election of a new Governor assumes that at the first meeting of the Council of Governors it will be accepted the resignation of Radovan Jelasic, and the Council will then instruct the Finance Committee of the National Assembly. The plan is that this will be done latest by April 6th , although the procedure has a legal deadline of 60 days. Even after accepting the resignation, the NBS former Governor will continue to perform all tasks until the Parliament Assembly does not appoint a new Governor, at the suggestion of the Committee on Finance. In any case, it is expected that by the end of the week the public and the Finance Committee, will know who is the proposed candidate. Meanwhile, Radovan Jelasic, the outgoing Governor, still performs his duties. He did not accept any new position and rejects claims that he received an job offer from the World Bank, which some media have reported.

Leading economists say now that the new Governor is about to be elected, it is the right moment to change the Law on the National Bank of Serbia. According to the current law from 2003, the mechanism of management and decision-making involves three restrictions - the Governor, the Monetary Board and the Council of the NBS. Dr. Milojko Arsic, Professor of the Faculty of Economics, says that the most effective solution would be the existence of a Council of the NBS. - President of the Council would be the governor and the Council would have six to eight members. In this way, decisions would be more balanced, and would be much more collective responsibility. In any case, would be strengthened by the independence of central banks - indicating Arsic.