OREANDA-NEWS. October 13, 2011. The Supervisory Board of Eesti Pank nominated Ardo Hansson as the candidate for the position of Governor of Eesti Pank. In the course of a secret voting, 5 of the eight board members voted in favour of Hansson, whereas the second candidate, Andres Sutt, received 3 votes, reported the press-centre of Eesti Pank.

Before voting, the Supervisory Board listened to the candidates' speeches and asked them additional questions.

"The Supervisory Board has managed well with the difficult task. I would like to thank all the candidates, especially Andres Sutt. The candidates were very strong, which did not make the decision-making easy, but this also meant we could be confident that our decision could only be a good one," said Jaan Mannik, Head of the Supervisory Board.

The candidate approved by the Supervisory Board must pass a 3-month security clearance performed by the Security Police. Thereafter, the Supervisory Board will analyse the data gathered, after which they will make a proposal to the President of the Republic to authorise the candidate to the office of Governor of Eesti Pank.

Governor Andres Lipstok's term of office lasts until 7 June 2012. According to law, the term of office of the central bank's governor is seven years and it is not extendable.

Ardo Hansson is currently Chief of the World Bank's Economics Unit in China. Employed by the World Bank since 1998, Hansson has also worked with Eastern European and Balkan countries. In 1993-1998 Hansson belonged to the Supervisory Board of Eesti Pank, in 1992-1995 and in 1997 he was economic adviser to the Prime Minister, and in 1991-1992 adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was also member of the Monetary Reform Committee. He has worked for several renown universities and published numerous articles on economic policy. Hansson holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University.

Initially, a total of four candidates were set up for the position of Governor of Eesti Pank by members of the Supervisory Board: Ardo Hansson, Jurgen Ligi, Andres Sutt and Andres Tupits. Hansson and Sutt made it to the final round of voting.