* OPAP chairman to assume Bank of Greece post-govt official
* Current CEO to temporarily act as chairman-govt official
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ATHENS, April 1 (Reuters) - The chairman of Greece's OPAP, Europe's biggest betting firm, Haris Stamatopoulos resigned on Friday to assume a post at the country' central bank, a government official said.
OPAP is 34 percent owned by the state, and Stamatopoulos, an ecoonomist, was put at its helm in December 2009, two months after the country's Socialists took over power.
"The chairman has sumbitted his resignation in writing today," Culture Ministry spokeswoman Katerina Anesti told Reuters. "He will assume an important post at the Bank of Greece."
Stamatopoulos will be appointed to the Bank of Greece's monetary policy committee, said another official familiar with the issue.
He had previously served as a chairman at Athens International Airport and worked at the Bank of Greece.
Current Chief Executive Officer Yannis Spanoudakis will temporarily fill Stamatopoulos' post, while the next general shareholders meeting, scheduled for May, will pick the new chairman, Anesti added.
At 0848 GMT, shares in OPAP were almost flat. Analysts said Stamatopoulos' resignation was not expected to affect OPAP's operations. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Hans Peters)