EBRD to elect new president

The annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will be held on October 7-8.

According to Report, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will take place online this time.

The EBRD's Board of Governors will elect a new President, who represents the EBRD's 71 shareholders on 8 October 2020. By the deadline for the submission of candidates' applications, the end of 13 April, the EBRD's Secretary-General had received three nominations for the role:

Adam Glapinski, EBRD Governor for the Republic of Poland, submitted the name of Tadeusz Koscinski, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Poland. Bruno Le Maire, EBRD Governor for France, offered the name of Odile Renaud-Basso, Director General, French Treasury, Ministry of Economy and Finance. Roberto Gualtieri, EBRD Governor for Italy, submitted Pier Carlo Padoan, Member of the Italian Parliament. However, Mr. Padoan withdrew his candidacy on 5 October.

According to the rules, the elections will be held a closed session of the Board of Governors, and the winning candidate must win at least 36 votes.

The last president Sir Suma Chakrabarti finished his second term on 2 July. An interim President, Jürgen Rigterink, now heads the Bank until a permanent successor is elected.

The EBRD is one of the leading institutional investors supporting Azerbaijan's efforts to diversify its economy and develop the private sector. So far, the EBRD has invested more than 3.3 billion euros in about 170 projects in Azerbaijan. The Bank also provides business consulting services to local small and medium enterprises and has helped more than a thousand firms improve their performance.