The U.K. government has nominated Suma Chakrabarti to be the new president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a position for which nominations close Thursday.

Thomas Mirow, the current president, wants to serve a second, four-year term provided the selection process is open and transparent.

But a U.K. Treasury source said it had put Chakrabarti, the senior civil servant at the Ministry of Justice, forward for the job.

"The U.K. Wants the best candidate for the job and we believe Suma is the best candidate for the job," the Treasury source said.

Mirow's term ends in July. The EBRD was established in 1991 to help countries in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union make the transition from centrally planned to market economies.

-By Paul Hannon, Dow Jones Newswires, +44 20 7842 9491;

paul.hannon@dowjones.com