Zellik is ready to go

The head of the World Bank will be chosen from one candidate

The election of a new president of the World Bank (WB) will be uncontested. The deadline for nominating candidates for the position expired on Friday. The only one willing to take the place of the “American hawk” Paul Wolfowitz, who left because of the scandal, was former US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. “The board of directors has informed us that,apart from the application from the United States with the name Robert Zoellick as a candidate for the post of president of the World Bank, no other applications have been received,” said bank spokeswoman Camille Fenel. The board will announce a vote this week, but it is already clear that the election must take place before June 30, the day Mr. Wolfowitz himself chose as his last day on the job. From July 1, his office in Washington will be occupied by Robert Zoellick.

Thus, the tradition that the post of head of the World Bank is occupied by an American remains unshakable. Robert Zoellick, who will turn 54 on July 25 this year, served as US Deputy Secretary of State since 2005 and retired in July 2006. After retirement, he went to work for the investment bank Goldman Sachs as a managing director and head of the company's international advisory department. Prior to joining the State Department, Zoellick served as US Trade Representative from February 2001 and, in particular, led negotiations with Russia to join the World Trade Organization. US President George W. Bush nominated him for the post of head of the World Bank on May 30, when it became obvious that Mr. Wolfowitz would have to leave his post due to a financial and love scandal.

There is no doubt about the positive decision of the board of directors for Mr. Zoellick. Although he is still two weeks away from officially taking office, Mr. Zoellick has already embarked on a world tour to build relationships with donor and borrower countries. Within two weeks, Robert Zoellick will visit countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. He has already managed to hold meetings with the bank's main shareholders. He spent last week in Europe. In Brussels, he held talks with European Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Finance Joaquín Almunia, and in Berlin with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. In addition, in Paris he met with the new Prime Minister Francois Fillon. Countries he will visit include Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa and Brazil.

One of the points of this tour was Mexico. And it was here that Zoellick decided to test the strength of the bank's relationships with some clients. Speaking at a press conference in Mexico City, he made it clear that he would not regret if some countries left the organization.

As you know, recently (at the height of the Wolfowitz scandal) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that he would no longer accept the advice of experts from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who “for decades forced us to save money, creating poverty throughout Latin America.” Moreover, the Venezuelan government has established a special commission to study the issue of secession from these international financial organizations. “If a country feels that it does not need the services of an international financial institution, that is its choice,” Mr. Zoellick commented on the situation at a press conference in Mexico City. According to him, he “did not find a shortage of people interested in cooperation with the World Bank.”

He predicted great troubles for Venezuela and its leadership from the combination of petrodollars and the socialist revolution. "This is a country where there are growing economic problems and where politics and the media are moving in the wrong direction," he said.

According to Zoellick, the bank should continue to provide loans to “threshold countries”, in particular China, but its priority should be to help the poorest countries in Africa. He believes that despite record foreign exchange reserves and the fastest rates of economic growth, China still needs help from international institutions. Assistance to African countries has always been a priority area of ​​work for the World Bank, whose motto is the fight against poverty throughout the world. In addition, the bank, according to Mr. Zoellick, should develop new financial products and services. Such a new product could be, for example, a package of financial assistance provided during natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

Vera SITNINA