Serbian central bank loses Dinkic and two deputies

Source: Financial Times

Serbia's senior central bankers resigned en masse yesterday, protesting against controversial central bank reforms approved by parliament.

The resignations of governor Mladjan Dinkic, two of the bank's three vice-governors and several department chiefs strip Serbia's leadership of some of its top economic talent.

Radovan Jelasic, one of the resigning vice-governors, said he and Mr Dinkic would continue working at the bank only until "a regular handover can be arranged". One vice-governor, Vesna Arsic, retains her post.

Mr Dinkic and his team are credited with pushing through tough banking reforms, taming Serbia's once-soaring inflation rate and finding ways for Serbs to reclaim foreign funds frozen under the former regime of Slobodan Milosevic.

But they fell foul of Zoran Zivkovic, the prime minister, and government ministers this year after Mr Dinkic's private think-tank, G17, converted itself into a political party sometimes critical of government policy.

Especially tough criticism was reserved for the new reforms approved yesterday by parliament. Mr Dinkic says that the legislation undermines the central bank's independence by giving MPs the power to both nominate and appoint top bank officials. Government officials say the bank's independence is not threatened.

Ministers say the bill was drafted originally as a matter of housekeeping, as the central bank is being transformed into a solely Serbian institution, following the formal dissolution of Yugoslavia five months ago.

Ministers also say the bank governor deserves credit for carrying out some of Serbia's most important reforms to date.

But Mr Jelasic says the bank's achievements have provoked suspicion and jealousy among ministers whose popularity is flagging.

Mr Dinkic had already taken pre-emptive action against his removal by trying to undermine the government with allegations of corruption among senior government officials.

Prosecutors demanded this week that he present evidence. Mr Dinkic replied that it had already been handed to police but was being ignored.

Whatever becomes of Mr Dinkic's allegations, which have been reported widely in Belgrade's newspapers, rifts between Serbia's reformers are clearly growing rather than healing since Zoran Djindjic, the former prime minister, was murdered in March.

Source for story below: Web site of Serbian Government

Energy Minister Kori Udovicki nominated as central bank governor

The Serbian parliament's financial committee nominated Minister of Energy and Mining Kori Udovicki for the post of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) governor on Monday.

The committee also proposed Faculty of Economics Professor Pavle Petrovic as NBS Council president and Securities Commission President Bosko Zivkovic, Faculty of Economics professors Milorad Ivanisevic and Zoran Popov, and Economic Institute research fellow Stojan Stamenkovic as council members.

The Serbian parliament will debate the nominations at a session on Tuesday.

Udovicki was born 1961 in La Paz, Bolivia. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Belgrade in 1984 and earned a master's degree and doctorate at Yale University (USA). Udovicki worked with the International Monetary Fund as Chief Economist for Yugoslavia in the period between 1993 and 2001, where she coordinated the work of sector economists, established a database on the real economy, and specialised in analysis of issues in the electric-power industry. Worked also as Chief Economist for Bosnia-Herzegovina, where she coordinated structural reform projects. In the Serbian government, she served as advisor to the Minister of Finance, and as a member of the Commission for restructuring public enterprises. She speaks English and Spanish, with good command of Portuguese and French. Udovicki is married, with two children.