Parliament voted down the candidacy of Lubomir Karimanski for Governor of Bulgaria’s central bank (update)

The MPs on April 15 voted down the candidacy of Lubomir Karimanski for Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

Despite the low threshold of 69 votes required for approval of the nomination, they were not collected.

The nomination was opposed on Sunday by "We Continue the Change", which had its own candidate, Andrei Gyurov, but subsequently he withdrew his nomination.

"Democratic Bulgaria" and Bulgarian Socialist Party (from the 4-party coalition government, which includes "We Continue the Change", the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), "There Is Such a People"and "Democratic Bulgaria") urged for a more expert and less political personality.

Today, 58 MPs from "There is Such a People" and the MRF voted in favour of Karimanski's nomination. The other parties were against. Opposition GERB, however, asked for a re-vote because they deliberately did not vote the first time. In the second vote, the proposal was also not adopted.

The election of the Central Bank’s governor caused a rift in the ruling coalition. Lubomir Karimanski, an MP from "There is such a People” and chairman of Parliament's budget committee, remained the only candidate for the post of BNB governor.

Andrei Gyurov, the candidate of "We Continue the Change", withdrew from the race on Sunday on the grounds that there was not enough support for him. He announced that he did not want to be elected with the votes of GERB and MRF and did not want his candidacy to be a cause for discord in the coalition.

The vote on Lubomir Karimanski's candidacy sparked a heated debate in the plenary hall. It was presented by the chairman of the parliamentary group of "There is Such a Peopl" Toshko Yordanov.

Later, Lubomir Karimanski commented on the MPs' vote.

"I gained political experience, in the end I got the knowledge, I thank you sincerely, it was claimed that I was honest and hardworking, it seems I was when the budgets of Bulgaria for about 60 billion BGN were passed. Then it turned out that I had a controversial reputation," Karimanski said.

"There was no smear against me while I was the only nomination, isn't it strange. The first handfuls of brown liquid staring flowing as soon as there were two candidates in the race. Amazing coincidence. Good lesson. Offering of posts and bribes began. The Deputy Prime Minister, the Prime Minister and even senior administration officials interfered in the work and decision of Parliament," he said.

He also announced that, unfortunately, his election always depended on the opposition GERB-UDF and on MRF.

"The hints to withdraw and the threats... I don't want to count them and comment on them. I pay attention to those in the coalition who want to change something, I came to understood that the pursuit of interests is more important than change," Karimanski added.

He finished his comments by addressing the MPs of “We Continue the Change”:

"There is something that banks and politics have in common, and that is trust. I would not like you to forget it. Trust is a very valuable asset. Was it wise to waste so much trust so cheaply, I turn to my colleagues, you will surely learn in the months and years to come."

***

Dimitar Radev is currently the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank since 2015. His term in office expired in the summer of last year, but since then no candidate has been found for the post. Radev will remain BNB governor until a new one is elected.

The bank is governed by a board of seven members. The three sub-governors of the main banking departments - issuance, banking and banking supervision - are elected by the Parliament, while the other three are appointed with a term of office by the President.

Currently, the members of the bank's board of directors, which meets at least once a month, are the governor Dimitar Radev and the sub-governors - Kalin Hristov, who is in charge of the issuance department, Nina Stoyanova - the banking department, Radoslav Milenkov, who is in charge of banking supervision, Elitsa Nikolova, Lyudmila Elkova and Nikolay Nenovski.

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