The post of the government proxy for introduction of the euro, occupied by Igor Barat since February 2007, will be cancelled at the end of September at the behest of the Finance Ministry, Barat told the TASR newswire on Monday.
Barat, who was seconded to the post from his position as spokesman for the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), says he will leave it up to others to evaluate his work as proxy. However, he says that he considers the euro introduction process in Slovakia to have been successful and without problems.
"As for the process that I have coordinated, I evaluate it as having been well-managed, smooth, without problems, and one that didn't cause problems for anyone. Slovakia was evaluated also by European institutions as a textbook example of a well-managed process of the transfer to the new currency," Barat told TASR.
Slovakia became the 16th member of the euro zone on January 1, 2009 and will be the last new member for the foreseeable future.
After Barat finishes his current position he will be enter the private sector. "I have received several interesting offers, of which the most interesting one came from Postova Bank, so I accepted this offer ... after 18 years in the public sector," Barat said while not offering any more specifics on his new position. TASR
Compiled by Spectator staff from press reports
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