NBS Unveils Statue of its First Governor in Front of its Headquarters

Bratislava, June 26 (TASR) - The Slovak Central Bank (NBS) unveiled a statue of the first governor of the NBS, Imrich Karvas - who stood up against two totalitarian regimes during his lifetime - in front of its headquarters in Bratislava on Thursday, NBS announced on its website. According to NBS governor Peter Kazimir, Imrich Karvas was not only an exceptional economist, professor, and banker, but also a man with principles ahead of his time. „Today, we symbolically return to him the place that rightfully belongs to him in our history," Kazimir declared. As the bank recalled, Karvas economically supported the 1944 Slovak National Uprising during World War II. The Nazis arrested him and sentenced him to death. Later, the communist regime imprisoned him again. The granite statue in front of the bank building is five meters tall and weighs 13 tons. „In the roughly shaped stone, one can see character in its purest form. And in that, I felt a parallel with Karvas’s personality — unyieldingness, integrity, and well-considered goals," said the sculptor Stefan Papco. mf/mcs