CEB appoints two new Vice-Governors

17 June 2016

Strasbourg - At its 214th meeting held today, the Governing Board of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) appointed Rosa María Sánchez-Yebra Alonso to the post of Vice-Governor for Social Development Strategy and Hakan Tokaç to the post of Vice-Governor for Target Group Countries.

Ms Sánchez-Yebra Alonso, a Spanish national, has held numerous senior posts in Spain’s public administration, including as Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and is currently serving as Secretary General of the Treasury and Financial Policy.

She is a graduate of the School for Economic and Commercial Studies of Public Administration (CECO) and holds an MBA from IE Business School and also a PhD and an MSc in Pharmacy from the University of Santiago de Compostela.

Ms Sánchez-Yebra Alonso will take up her new post on 18 December 2016 for a five-year term. She will be succeeding Mr Apolonio Ruiz-Ligero, who is completing his term in office as Vice-Governor for Social Development Strategy on 17 December 2016.

Mr Tokaç, a Turkish national, has been a senior government official in Turkey for over 20 years and is currently serving as Director General for Foreign Economic Relations at the Turkish Treasury. He holds an MSc in Finance and Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BA in Public Finance from Ankara University.

Mr Tokaç will begin his five-year term in office on 16 August 2016.

Commenting on these new appointments, CEB Governor Rolf Wenzel said: “I wish to congratulate both Ms Sánchez-Yebra Alonso and Mr Tokaç on their appointment. I look forward to working closely with them. I am confident that they will both make an important contribution to the CEB’s management team.”

Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 41 member states. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank's target countries, are listed among the member states. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (Aa1 with Moody's, outlook stable, AA+ with Standard & Poor's, outlook stable and AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its member states, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its member states for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.