Florin Georgescu, former Minister of Finances in the Nicolae Vacaroiu Cabinet, currently the chairman of the Supervision Board at BCR (Romanian Commercial Bank) has been nominated by ruling party PSD (Social Democrat Party) for the position of prime vice-governor of the National Bank of Romania (NBR).

"Florin Georgescu has been doing a great job at BCR, he is an accomplished professional and he is highly-specialised in his profession. He is not a professor of car parts, but a professor of currencies, therefore he has all the right to fill this position, as he has the necessary skills," Viorel Hrebenciuc, leader of the PSD Chamber of Deputies group said yesterday.

Several years ago, Florin Georgescu was on the Board of the Bank for Investments and Development (BID), an institution controlled by controversial businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu. Georgescu was among the bank's top managers, together with current Senate Speaker Nicolae Vacaroiu. Georgescu stepped down before the Vantu scandal broke put, between 2001-2003. BID was then liquidated by Sorin Ovidiu Vantu.

Until this summer, Georgescu was a Deputy and a member of the BCR Board. BCR is Romania's largest bank. After the sale of a 25% stake in BCR to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the IFC (World Bank's investment arm), the bank's personnel structure was changed. Florin Georgescu was given a non-executive position - chairman of the bank's Supervision Board.

PSD volunteered no other names yesterday for the National Bank's executive management and for the members of the Board. The names proposed by the ruling party will be revealed in the next few days, perhaps as early as today, during the hearings of the candidates running for the nine positions within the NBR Board.

Mugur Isarescu, who has been Governor of the Nat