Polish candidate for the post of President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

28.07.2020

EBRD’s board of Governors will elect a new president to succeed Sir Suma Chakrabarti this autumn, for a 4-year term. There are three nominated candidates to this prestigious post: Tadeusz Kościński, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Poland; Pier Carlo Padoan, Member of the Italian Parliament; and Odile Renaud Basso, Director General, French Treasury, Ministry of Economy and Finance.

CGD’s Mikaela Gavas discussed with the candidates and their visions for the Bank’s future. She underlined that at the Center for Global Development, they believe this appointment should be made on the basis of merit and substance. Therefore, they made their own contribution to this process by offering a public forum for the candidates to discuss their vision for the future of the EBRD.

The choice of the next president of the EBRD will have important real-world consequences. The Bank, established in 1991 to ”enable the transition to market economies in the former Eastern bloc", now is facing new challenges, considering a possible expansion of countries of operation into Sub-Saharan Africa as well as deciding on its role in the global post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

Poland would like to share its experience of one of the biggest countries of operation of the Bank, gained during the process of successful transformation from a centrally-planned economy to a free market one. Therefore, rightly so, our candidate regards the EBRD as one of the most important financial institutions focused on development and growth, with an increasing significance, not only in Europe.