Oct 4 (Reuters) - Following are analysts' top three picks as the country's next economy minister if Prime Minister Viktor Orban decides to replace Gyorgy Matolcsy, whose hold on the post an influential newspaper said on Monday had weakened.
For main story please see [ID:nLDE6930SU]
MIHALY VARGA Varga, 45, is a stalwart of the ruling Fidesz party and one of its top economic policymakers since its earliest days. A loyal associate of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Varga was tipped as a potential Economy Minister in April. He ended up as state secretary in the PM's office.
Finance minister from 2001 to 2002, Varga led a committee charged with clarifying Hungary's 2010 budget position after Fidesz took over from the Socialists. The move was seen as an attempt by Fidesz to widen its fiscal leeway.
After the European Union forced Hungary to accept a deficit cap of 3 percent of GDP in 2011, Varga said the country would meet the criteria for euro entry by 2014-15. [ID:nLDE68C040]
As finance minister, he controlled state finances at a time of robust growth and in the run-up to the 2002 elections, in which Fidesz and the Socialists raced to outbid one another, contributing to a runaway 2002 budget deficit of 8.9 percent, up from 4 percent 2001.
ZSIGMOND JARAI
Jarai, 58, is a former central bank governor and one of
Hungary's most respected economists. He is Chairman of the
Supervisory Board at insurance firm CIG Eastern European
Insurance Company as well as one of the owners of the company
and sits on the board of Hungarian oil and gas firm MOL
In 1995-1998 Jarai was chief executive of MHB bank, managing the sale of the bank to ABN AMRO. He was chairman of the Budapest Stock Exchange from 1996-1998.
He held the post of finance minister in the first Fidesz government between 1998 and the end of 2000 when the government conducted fiscal tightening, but was criticised for underestimating inflation and therefore revenues.
In 2001 he was appointed Governor of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) for a seven-year mandate. Under his leadership, the bank launched a system of inflation targeting.
ZSOLT HERNADI
Hernadi, 49, has been chairman of MOL -- Hungary's biggest company -- since 2000 and both chairman and chief executive of since 2001. A leading figure in Hungary's business community, Hernadi was the architect behind MOL's tough takeover defences.
MOL's opposition to last year's purchase of a 21 percent
stake in the firm by Russia's Surgutneftegaz
Prime Minister Orban has pledged to resolve the situation with Surgut soon after taking power in May. Surgut, however, does not seem willing to let go of its MOL stake and it is also unclear how Hungary would finance such a transaction.
The issue will be high on the agenda of Russian-Hungarian talks due later this month. [ID:nLDE65D11P]
Hernadi could be part of Hungary's broader chess game with Russia, as removing him from MOL might ease Moscow's stance on Surgut's MOL stake, while the post of economy minister could compensate Hernadi for stepping aside.
Local media reported last month that Hernadi would step down as MOL's chief executive late in September or in early October, but the company denied the report. [ID:nLDE68G0KE]
Hernadi's mandate on the board of directors expires in February, 2014.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Marton Dunai; Editing by John Stonestreet)