Russia says BRIC countries want open IMF race

...former premier and central bank chief Josef Tosovsky for the post.

"I held talks with the BRIC countries, and the proposal to have a full, competive election received their backing," Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told reporters, referring to a bloc that groups Russia with Brazil, India and China.

Kudrin said he saw "nothing terrible" in the fact that Prague had not endorsed Tosovsky, and instead backed the European Union's candidate for the post of IMF managing director, French ex-finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

[MOSCOW/Reuters/Finance.cz]