site.btaGERB Not to Support Dimiter Kostov's Nomination for Central Bank Vice Governor for Bank Supervision - PM

GERB Not to Support Dimiter Kostov's Nomination for Central Bank Vice Governor for Bank Supervision - PM

Brussels, February 13 (BTA) - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will
instruct the MPs of his GERB party not to support the
nomination of Dimiter Kostov for the position of central bank
Vice Governor in charge of banking supervision. This transpired
from Borissov's remarks before Bulgarian reporters in Brussels
when he was asked to comment the refusal of the Reformist Bloc
(RB), GERB's partner in the ruling majority, to back Kostov.

RB said Thursday they would not vote for Kostov who has been
nominated by central bank Governor Ivan Iskrov to replace the
banking supervision chief, Tsvetan Gunev, after his suspension
over the failure of the Corporate Commercial Bank last year. The
RB reasoned their decision with Kostov's role as finance
minister in a government in 1995-97 which saw the collapse of 13
banks.

Borissov made it clear that not supporting Gunev was not his
first choice. "I want to say clearly that all this populism on
GERB's back is a bit too much. The Reformers, the Patriotic
Front, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Bulgarian
Socialist Party know all too well that under the effective
legislation Ivan Iskrov is the only one who can nominate a vice
governor. Prime Minister, President, nobody can force a decision
on him. For a year and a half now the central banks has been
without its most important department chief, of banking
supervision. We won't accept Kostov's nomination but then nobody
can make Iskrov put forward another candidate," said the Prime
Minister.

Of Iskrov himself, who has long been under pressure to come down
himself over the central bank's failure to handle the Corpbank
case, Borissov said that he is "unwilling to go and is willing
to keep his job to the last day" of his tenure" and the majority
has no levers to change that. "Our partners know this all too
well. And we will give in to this populism, to the arguments
that Kostov was a member of the Zhan Videnov government, will
leave the central bank without a vice governor [for banking
supervision]."

He went on to say that Kostov is the "lesser evil", the worst
evil being having no banking supervision chief until August or
September when the central bank governor's term expires and a
new one is due to be elected. "During this year, if something
happens [in the banking sector], there will be noone to blame,"
Borissov added.

He said that the position of GERB's partners came as a surprise
to him because he had discussed the matter with the RB
leadership several days earlier and they apparently thought
differently.

"But if we make the practical decision of supporting Kostov and
voting in office a [banking supervision] chief and, God forbid,
the Movement for Rights and Freedoms support him, too, there
will always be somebody to say that GERB and the Movement are
protecting the status quo. In this case, we are giving in to
this general madness and populism, and will leave the central
bank without a vice governor for banking supervision," Borissov
said in conclusion.