(Adds Tuma quote, analyst, background)
By Petra Vodstrcilova
PRAGUE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The Czech government nominated
central bank chief Zdenek Tuma to become the next president of
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said on Monday.
Tuma's rivals for the job are German Deputy Finance Minister
Thomas Mirow and possibly with current EBRD President Frenchman
Jean Lemierre whose term comes to an end in July.
If appointed, the highly respected central banker would be
the first representative of a former communist new EU member
country to take a top job at a major international financial
institution.
"Our candidate is Zdenek Tuma. Given his career and
professional experience he is a very strong candidate that has
the support of a whole number of EU countries," Topolanek told a
news conference.
The London-based EBRD was set up in 1991 to promote the
private sector in central and eastern Europe and former-Soviet
countries following the fall of communism. It is owned by 61
countries and two international organisations.
Tuma, 47, was re-appointed for a second six-year term as
central bank chief in 2005. He said he accepted the nomination.
"I greatly value the opportunity to be at the helm of the
Czech National Bank," Tuma said in a statement.
"This job has been and still is a great challenge for me. I
have accepted the nomination for EBRD President because this
post is an equally great challenge in the international
context," he said.
Tuma served as an executive director at the EBRD briefly in
1998-1999 before joining the central bank, representing Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia.
Lemierre is in his second four-year term at the EBRD. He has
not said whether or not he plans to step down, although last
week he appeared not to be ruling out a third term.
If Lemierre were to leave, France would have difficulty
replacing him with another Frenchman, given that it already
holds many top international posts.
Former French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn took
over the reins of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last
year, beating former Czech central bank Governor Josef Tosovsky,
who was however nominated by Moscow and not his home country.
The European Central Bank is run by Frenchman Jean-Claude
Trichet, and Pascal Lamy leads the World Trade Organisation.
Topolanek said European finance ministers would discuss the
nominations on March 4 and a decision on the new EBRD president
could be made in May, when he EBRD holds annual meeting.
Tuma's departure would mark the completion of a makeover of
the Czech central bank's board under eurosceptic Czech President
Vaclav Klaus.
Analysts said that while Tuma was qualified or the EBRD job,
Czech monetary policy could suffer as the country still has to
adopt the euro.
"Tuma has been a safe pair of hands and obviously in terms
of appointing a new governor I think that there is a risk that
position would be politicised," said Lars Christensen, senior
analyst at Danske Bank.
(writing by Jan Lopatka)
