A decision on the appointment will be made by April 14, said Andrea Kis-Halas. The new CEO's mandate will be for three years.
The tender was called after Zsolnay racked up losses of HUF 180 million, compared to a profit target of HUF 320 million, and the local council decided to sack CEO Gyula Kovács.
Pécs mayor Péter Tasnádi said earlier there were "no personal objections" to Kovács, but it was necessary to create the opportunity for a new leader to carry out the growing number of tasks at the company.
The local council decided at the end of 2007 to put HUF 700 million toward paying off Zsolnay's HUF 1.5 billion stock of debt. The measure was necessary to prevent the company from being reclaimed by the state and to ensure the success of a plan to turn the company's factory and the area around it into a "cultural quarter". The plan is part of Pécs's preparations to take the title European Capital of Culture in 2010.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
