Thomas Östros (born 26 January 1965) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

economist, former Social Democratic politician and CEO of the Swedish Bankers' Association. In 2015 he was named Executive Director for Northern Europe at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

Early life and education

Östros was born in

Malmberget Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain", Finnish and Meänkieli: ''Malmivaara'') is a locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden. It had 5,590 inhabitants in 2010, reduced to 927 by December 2020. It is situate ...

, as Björn Thomas Waaranperä, the son of an explosives worker and a housewife. His parents changed their Tornedalian family name to ''Östros'' when they moved from

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administ ...

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

, because it was easier to pronounce. Östros has a

licentiate degree A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. It may be similar to a master's degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universities in Europe, Latin Ame ...

(a graduate degree in the Swedish university system) in economics from

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

Political career

Beginnings

During his time at university, Östros was an active member of the local branch of

Social Democratic Students of Sweden The Social Democratic Students of Sweden ( sv, Socialdemokratiska Studentförbundet ; S-Studenter) is the student organisation of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. The organisations acronym is SSF, this acronym is most commonly used in internati ...

. He also served as a councillor in the Uppsala Municipal Council.

Career in national politics

In 1994 Östros was elected to the Riksdag as a member of parliament. In 1996, he became the Minister for Taxation at the age of 31, under the Cabinet of Göran Persson, and later served as Minister for Education from 1998 to 2004. In 2004 he switched posts with Leif Pagrotsky and became Minister for Enterprise and Energy, a position he held on to until the Social Democratic defeat at the general elections of 2006. Östros was also the deputy chairman of the Riksdag's committee for Industry and Trade from 2006 to 2008. In 2008 Östros was appointed economic policy spokesperson for his party, following a leadership dispute between his predecessor

Pär Nuder Pär Anders Nuder (born 27 February 1963) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician. He served as Minister for Finance from 2004 to 2006, Minister for Policy Coordination and State Secretary and Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Göran Persson ...

and the newly appointed party chairman

Mona Sahlin Mona Ingeborg Sahlin ( born 9 March 1957) is a Swedish politician who was leader of the opposition and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 2007 to 2011. Sahlin was a Member of Parliament, representing Stockholm County, from 198 ...

; a post he was forced to resign from in March 2011, coinciding with the ascension of Håkan Juholt as chairman, a candidate he refused to endorse or publicly support. Östros left the party executive committee at about the same time, and subsequently left the Riksdag in July 2012, having spent a total of 17 years as an MP. It has often been said that former Prime Minister

Göran Persson Hans Göran Persson (; born 20 January 1949) is a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Persson was first elected to the Swedish Parliam ...

has a lot of confidence in Thomas Östros, and he was mentioned in speculations about possible successors to Persson.

Professional career

Östros was appointed CEO of the

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...

Swedish Bankers' Association in 2012, a position he resigned from in 2015, only to later be named Executive Director for Nordic and Baltic countries at the IMF. In January 2020, Östros was appointed Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), under the leadership of Werner Hoyer; he succeeded

Alexander Stubb Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He rose to politics as a researcher specialized in the affairs of the European Union and was elected to the European ...

Other activities

* European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (since 2020)Board of Governors
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostros, Thomas 1965 births Living people People from Gällivare Municipality Members of the Riksdag from the Social Democrats Uppsala University alumni Swedish people of Finnish descent Members of the Riksdag 2002–2006 Tornedalians Swedish Ministers for Education