* CEO to advance UniCredit as int'l bank - chairman
* Board to decide on directors general in coming weeks
* Board can't say Libyan investors autonomous - statement
* UniCredit shares end up 1.7 percent, sector falls
(Adds statements, analyst, board on Libyan investors)
By Piotr Bujnicki and Ian Simpson
WARSAW/MILAN, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank UniCredit SpA named central and eastern European head Federico Ghizzoni its chief executive as expected on Thursday and underscored its commitment to an international role.
The board unanimously backed Ghizzoni, a 54-year-old deputy chief executive, to succeed Alessandro Profumo, who had turned the bank into an multi-national player, UniCredit said in a statement.
Profumo quit last week in a clash with shareholders over Libyan stake-building, leaving UniCredit, the biggest bank in central and eastern Europe, rudderless. The Bank of Italy had urged the lender to make a quick replacement.
"UniCredit is a European group. We'll keep on growing organically in Europe. There are no transactions in the loop," Ghizzoni told reporters after the board meeting at Warsaw's Bank Pekao, a UniCredit unit.
Chairman Dieter Rampl said in a statement Ghizzoni "will continue to advance UniCredit's position as a leading international bank".
His appointment "further underscores our long-term commitment to central and eastern Europe, a region with strong growth potential", he said.
UniCredit said Ghizzoni and the board would study "the best leadership model" in coming weeks. A banking source said before the vote the board could name one or two directors general at its next meeting, in four weeks.
One analyst said: "It's a good appointment. He knows the group very well, he knows the CEE (central and eastern Europe region). And that is where the group is expanding."
Ghizzoni has worked for UniCredit since 1980 and holds a law degree. Born in Piacenza, he has worked in Britain, Singapore, Turkey and Poland and has run central and eastern European operations since 2007 -- an area that contributes around 25 percent of UniCredit's revenue.
LIBYAN STAKE
Another candidate for the top job had been Deputy Chief Executive Roberto Nicastro, head of retail operations. Analysts had said his appointment would have suggested a refocus on domestic operations.
Profumo resigned abruptly last week as Europe's longest-serving bank chief executive after a clash with shareholders over Libyan stake-building and lagging profits.
Libya's growing stake in the bank had been the last straw for non-profit foundations and other shareholders fed up with UniCredit's performance and Profumo's plan to streamline Italian operations and cut local jobs.
The Libyan central bank holds 4.99 percent of UniCredit and the Libyan Investment Authority 2.59 percent. Bank rules bar investors from having more than 5 percent of voting rights and the Bank of Italy asked UniCredit in August to verify that the Libyan holdings were independent.
UniCredit's board has not received information that would allow it to say with certainty that the holdings are autonomous, the bank said in a separate statement, adding more checks were needed to have a complete picture.
Although a source close to the bank said on Wednesday that all deputy chief executives would stay on after the CEO was named, a second analyst said Nicastro was likely to leave, along with Chief Financial Officer Marina Natale.
UniCredit shares closed up 1.7 percent at 1.873 euros, while the STOXX Europe 600 Bank index was down 0.7 percent. (Additional reporting by Maria Pia Quaglia, Gianluca Semeraro and Silvia Aloisi; Writing by Ian Simpson; Editing by Will Waterman and David Holmes)