Putin to nominate economic aide for Central Bank chief

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he intends to nominate his Economic Adviser Elvira Nabiullina as a candidate to head Russia's Central Bank, RIA Novosti reported.

On Tuesday, March 12, Putin held a meeting with Nabiullina and current Central Bank chief Sergei Ignatyev.

“It is her candidacy that I intend to submit to parliament [for approval],” Putin said at the meeting, adding that he hoped she would agree to the offer, according to a transcript posted on the Kremlin website.

Putin implied he had great faith in Nabiullina, who served as economic development minister from 2007 to 2012, saying his nomination stemmed in part from the fact that “the Central Bank is not just any bank [...] but is first and foremost the regulator of the financial system and the major institution of state macroeconomic policy.”

Ignatyev’s tenure as the Central Bank head expires on June 23, but the president must propose a new candidate to the parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, no later than three months prior to the date when the current officer's term expires.

Current legislation stipulates that the president must submit a candidacy for the post of the Central Bank chief to parliament, which in turn will vote to elect a new head for a four-year term.