Turning on power efficiency

Romania and the Netherlands are partnering on new initiatives in saving energy

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The Dutch are becoming more offensive in bringing environmentally-friendly ideas to Romania, but many innovative concepts still may not be applicable in the east European country.
The Netherlands has led the way in Europe in formulating a business case for energy reduction, partly because the crowded low countries experience a necessity to save on resources.
“We would like to be in the forefront of political development and encouragement in climate change and gas emissions reduction,” says Dutch Ambassador Jaap Werner. “We are talking to other countries to see if we can go beyond this strategy.”
The EU must diversify energy sources, reduce gas emissions and the effects of climate change and is worried about energy dependency, particularly on Russia.
Romania and the Netherlands already work together on the trading of energy in the framework of the Kyoto protocol. “Romania is an important partner in more efficient energy use and better control of emissions,” says the Ambassador. These are also ‘collective good’ policies which can lay a foundation for countries to build strong bilateral cooperation.
The EU aims to cut gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, but the Netherlands wants to go further, to reduce emissions by 30 per cent.
'1') { require('php/art_auth.inc'); } ?>Dutch engineers are also pioneering self-sufficient greenhouses to generate heat in the summer, pumping this into the soil and then back up during the winter. “We are hoping that by 2020 these greenhouses can be energy neutral and can even start producing net energy,” says Marjolijn van Deelen, head of the economic and environment section, Embassy of the Netherlands.
Another experiment is carbon capture and storage, where CO2 is stored underground in vacated gas fields. Pilot projects into this new technology are ongoing in Holland, which could one day be suitable for Romania, due to the country’s estate of empty gas fields.
Holland has also helped Romania draw up long-term voluntary agreements between the Romanian Government and the cement, glass and ceramics industries to reduce energy consumption. “Businesses are happy if they can reach a voluntary agreement rather than face rules given by the Government unilaterally,” says van Deelen.
However this presumes that industry can regulate itself. “You have to start somewhere and because three sectors have been willing to work with us proves this is something that is feasible for Romania,” the counselor adds.
Dutch businesses have also been wise to energy saving, with beer producer Heineken introducing a heat recovery system in its breweries which improved energy efficiency by 25 per cent. Meanwhile Dutch lighting firm Lumnis is merchandising lights in Romania for streetlamps which are 90 per cent more energy efficient than standard bulbs. “Here there may be huge savings for central and local Governments,” says van Deelen.
Inland shipping of goods on ‘mobile warehouses’ also remains an efficient way of transporting goods. “We hope to see more operators on the Danube transporting bulk goods,” says van Deelen. “But there will only be more shippers if there are more terminals.”
This year a Dutch company is starting a feasibility study into a multi-modal terminal in the Danube town of Giurgiu. The southern town lies on the Bulgarian-Romanian border and on the motorway under construction on the Ninth European Corridor.
The terminal would facilitate the movement of goods from river to road or rail and could also see the development of a logistics hub in Giurgiu, where land costs are cheaper and more plentiful than in Bucharest.

Energy revolution

While Europe is looking to make energy from wind, water and the sun to improve efficiency, in Romania the revamping of existing power generation plants may prove to be more practical.
Nicolas Halberg, director general of Dutch consultants Energy Efficiency, believes the modernisation of district heating is key. The problem is inefficient gas and coal-fired power plants, some of which have been unchanged for 20 years. Local authorities are not entertaining the construction of efficient new plants or the revitalisation of the existing estate.
District heating still receives Government subsidy, argues Halberg, instead of cash based on incentives to improve efficiency and invest in new technology.
He also states that Romania is “not exploiting” its own resources of natural gas, while importing gas from Russia at a high price.
Dutch companies are interested in investing in wind throughout the world. But Halberg says there is “reluctance” in Romania. The country does not have the best resources for wind power, says Halberg, although Latin energy giants Iberdrola and Enel are funding schemes near the Black Sea. Other problems include laws that do not work in practice, complications in trying to get permits from local authorities and the high price of land.
However what Romania does not have is a culture of the public complaining about constructions in their back yard – there would be little public protest to the construction of wind farms.
Poor insulation of up to five million buildings, including many Communist-built flats – also contributes to energy inefficiency. In Sibiu, local authorities have encouraged investors to build another level on top of a block of four storeys and then sell the property, in exchange for insulating the rest of the building.
“There should be a huge possibility for this in Bucharest,” says Halberg.

Romanian justice reform: not sustained

“The first year of Romania [following EU accession] in justice reform has not been a very happy year,” says Dutch Ambassador Jaap Werner. “It’s been difficult to sustain the momentum of justice reform in 2007.”
The European Commission report in January this year attacked Romania’s failure to bring justice for those accused of high level corruption.
Werner hopes the newly-appointed Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu can speed up reform. “We will be supportive and have funds available for bilateral cooperation in the justice field,” he says. Recently Romania set up a National Integrity Agency (ANI) to monitor the wealth of politicians, but the institution does not function due to a lack of trained inspectors. The European Commission demanded this to be operational by October 2007. “We are talking to ANI to see how we can support them in training,” says Werner. “We hope that ANI will receive the necessary support to make it really operational. This is a Romanian invention endorsed by the EU, with almost unanimous support from the Romanian parliament, even if it was watered down to a certain extent.”
If Romania fails to make significant reforms in justice by this June, the European Commission will impose on Romania a “safeguard clause” which would mean the other 26 member states would no longer recognise judgements made in the Romanian justice system. “This is a unique instrument, so we don’t have any precedent or experience in these kinds of safeguard measures,” says Werner. “I hope the situation will be such that the Commission will avoid making these recommendations.”
The threat aims to be a strong signal sent by the EU to the Romanian Government and society.  “We are a legal community and in the justice area we are working towards a closer penal legal community,” says Werner. “The safeguard clause would be an inverse direction of our joint development. But, because in the EU we are all part of the same structure, when the EU punishes a member state it punishes itself.”

Kosovo: open dialogue, divided views

A divide has opened in the EU between countries which recognise Kosovan independence, such as UK, France, Germany and The Netherlands, and those who support Serbia’s territorial claim to the province, such as Romania.
“I think the vast majority [of EU countries] will recognise Kosovo at some point,” says the Ambassador. “Whether or not Romania recognises Kosovo in the long run, I don’t think the country [Romania] will stand in the way of solid relations between the EU and Kosovo.”
Kosovo suffers from a high level of corruption and chronic unemployment, while there were fears, as we went to press, that the Kosovan Serb area of Mitrovica, was spiralling into further violence.
“It is not an easy birth and we will all need to take good care of Kosovo in the near future,” says Werner. “We hope that an EU solution will be good for all concerned and will solve economic issues, ease relations, guarantee democracy, minority issues and human rights. Until then it will probably be a bumpy ride.”
Directly following Kosovo’s declaration in February, President Boris Tadic’s visit to Bucharest was a positive move both for Serbia and Romania, argues Werner.
“It shows that Tadic wants to make sure that there are open communication channels with the EU,” he says. “It is not by chance that they have chosen Romania to play a role there and this can be taken as a compliment to Bucharest. Nobody in the EU wants Serbia to become isolated and if Bucharest can help in avoiding that, then Basescu’s message to Tadic on keeping communication channels open is very strong.”

Netherlands Chamber: legislative changes create confusion

In the beginning, the Netherlands was not extremely positive about Romania joining the EU and the nation is still following the process of the country’s development in a constructive way. “There is a sharp eye from the Dutch Government on how things are developing in Romania,” says Peter de Ruiter, chairman of the Netherlands-Romanian Chamber of Commerce, and partner for tax and legal services at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Dutch investors are in general satisfied with their businesses in Romania and continue to see growth opportunities. But the Romanian regulatory environment needs improvement due to a lack of dialogue between Parliament and Government and laws which overlap and contradict one another. The Government issues emergency decrees and then gains the Parliament’s approval only after a certain law is in place. This approval is not always met. The Parliament also initiates similar laws which regulate the same sector or issue. “This whole system creates confusion,” says de Ruiter.
The Netherlands-Romanian Chamber operates not only as an ‘information centre’ for Dutch investors, but also as a lobby organisation. “Politicians listen to what we have to say, but we would appreciate it if they would also do something about it, because mistakes are being repeated,” the chairman says. De Ruiter sees some progress. “But this attitude is rather due to the effect of Romania being an EU member state. In the ultimate cases, conflicts between corporations and the Romanian authorities can now be solved because EU legislation is superior to Romanian legislation.”
One of Romania’s major problems before joining the EU was the poor status of the judicial system, the legislative framework and the courts. Some progress is noticed, but de Ruiter says there needs to be major improvements to create an investment climate where foreign companies feel comfortable.
“Dutch investors have been able to grow and be prosperous in Romania, so you can do business here without playing dirty games,” de Ruiter adds.

Port of call

With Europe’s biggest port, Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, Dutch business sees great potential in the port of Constanta. It would be more efficient for goods from the Far East supplying countries such as Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine to enter the EU at Constanta, and not Rotterdam. “This can save between seven and ten days,” de Ruiter says. He says that there is large Dutch interest to invest in the entire supply chain, like logistics, transportation and distribution of goods, both in the ports of Constanta and Galati and also in Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi, which lie on the main transport routes to the west and north.

Damen Shipyards: industry under
attack from worker shortfall

Shipbuilding in Romania is under attack by a lack of qualified workers and engineers who have emigrated to work in other EU countries and the USA for higher salaries.
In the last two years, Dutch giant Damen Shipyards Galati has lost 1,300 employees, while another 3,000 people left the other eight Romanian companies in the same field. “The entire industry, which has cashed in 560 million Euro for delivered orders, has suffered in 2007 financial losses of 45 million Euro due to the lack of workers which have disabled us from fulfilling our contracts,” says Gelu Stan, managing director of Damen Shipyards Galati, which posted losses of around eight million Euro in 2007.
Romanian legislation makes it difficult for a company to bring workers from outside the EU, says Stan. Romanian employers must wait four months to obtain permits to hire people from countries where the workforce is much cheaper than in the EU, such as China, Vietnam, Ukraine, Turkey, India and Thailand. Stan has requested the Government should change this law urgently, otherwise companies will face collapse.
It is also hard to attract foreign workers because there has been a global boom in shipbuilding, with Romanian shipyards clocking up orders at least for the next three years.

Damen Shipyards Galati
Shipbuilding transport and
technical vessels
■ Employees: 3,100
■ Loss 2007: 7.8 million Euro
■ Profit 2006: 11.5 million Euro

Stork Fokker: designing plane
structures in Romania

Romania’s expertise in aerospace has prompted large foreign companies to open in the country or create joint ventures with local firms. Dutch Stork Fokker AESP BV, part of global giant Stork Aerospace, has opened a branch in Bucharest where 15 aero-space engineers are undertaking design and stress engineering for airplane structures. General manager of Fokker Engineering Romania Rob Bosgraaf intends to hire another ten to 15 engineers this year. “We found good specialists here, because there are very good aero-space faculties in Bucharest and Brasov,” he says. In Bucharest, the Dutch company makes the designs which are sent to the Netherlands.
Even though Romania has a relatively cheap but skilled workforce, Bosgraaf says Fokker is not yet interested in opening a production facility in the country. The company recently relocated to Mexico and China.
Stork Fokker AESP BV owns 49 per cent in a joint-venture with Romanian aero-space parts producer Aerostar Bacau. Stork Fokker provides the machinery and the design plans and Aerostar produces the parts, which are sent to the Netherlands. In 1989, the Romanian aero-space industry was the ninth largest in the world, but this has since been in decline.
“Now the Romanian aero-space industry is outdated and not able to keep up with the latest technology,” says Bosgraaf.

Fokker Engineering Romania
Part of Stork Fokker AESP BV
■ Bucharest: design and stress engineering
■ Bacau: joint venture with Aerostar Bacau in aero parts production

ING Bank: market share slipping

Last year ING Bank Romania increased the total value of its assets by 13 per cent to 2.1 billion Euro, but saw its market share drop from 4.2 per cent to 3.2 per cent.
“This happened because there were many new players who entered the Romanian financial market,” says Misu Negritoiu, general director of ING Bank Romania.
He also argues that while the market is continuously growing, the appetite for corporate deposits remains very low.
In 2007 ING Bank Romania doubled its number of clients in retail banking to 500,000. By the end of 2008 the bank plans to reach 750,000 customers. This year ING will open six more branches for wholesale banking and another 40 for retail banking, reaching 35 and 187 units respectively.

ING Bank
■ Ranking: tenth
■ Net revenues 2007: 88 million Euro
■ Gross Profit 2007:
19.6 million Euro
■ Total Assets 2007: 2.1 billion Euro ■ Employees: 1,000

ING Life Insurance: preparing for year of voluntary private pensions

“2008 will be the year of the voluntary [private] pensions in Romania and ING Life Insurance plans to welcome 200,000 more clients in this sector,” says Bram Boon, CEO of ING Life Insurance Romania.
By January this year, all 18 to 35 year-old employees were compelled to join a private pension fund. Some of these funds are now for sale.
Asked whether ING is interested in such an acquisition, Boon says: “We shall wait and see. It is too early to make a decision because we do not know what kind of participants are in the fund of these pension providers. We do not know if they are going to contribute or not. And some participants in these pension funds will transfer [to another fund] because they do not want to align with the possible buyer. They could come to ING anyhow.”
Although ING would like to takeover an insurance company, Romania offers few opportunities.
“Insurance company Asiban is for sale, but this is focused on general insurance and to buy this would mean splitting our company, because our philosophy is to sell life insurance and pensions,” argues Boon.

ING Life Insurance
Life insurance and pensions
■ Turnover 2007: 170 million Euro
■ Profit 2007: eight million Euro
■ Ranking in market: first in life insurance and Pillar II private pensions
■ Market share in life insurance: 35 per cent
■ Market share in Pillar II: 33.2 per cent

Interamerican: dropping taxes
to attract customers

With a major shareholder in Eureko, the leader in managing private pensions in the Netherlands, Interamerican has spent the last year attracting participants to its mandatory private pension scheme for 18 to 35 year-old employees.
Interamerican has decided to drop the taxes for participants for 2008 and 2009, hoping this will attract more young people to its product offering. Now the managers of the private pension funds have to invest 35 per cent of the funds in securities issued by the Romanian state.
“Our investment strategy is planned for the long term,” says Besim Jawad, general director Interamerican Pensii. “We will try to diversify our investments to avoid an excessive dependency on a certain asset or the state.”
Since January 2008 those between 18 and 35 who did not apply for a mandatory pension have been randomly allocated to a pension provider. Through this ‘lottery’, Interamerican last month so far gained 21,131 participants, but this did not affect the company’s market share of 6.35 per cent.

Interamerican Pension Fund
■ Market share: 6.35 per cent
■ Participants: 263,979
■ Branches (inside Interamerican Insurance): 50

AON: to expand branches in 2008

Insurance broker AON Romania last year registered an increase of 30 per cent in turnover and this year aims to expand from its four branches to include large cities such as Constanta. But one major issue is finding qualified employees that can meet their standards. “We only hire people with experience in this domain and we train them,” says Karina Rosu, CEO of AON Romania. For 2008, Rosu thinks that the most significant increase on the insurance market will be in real estate and infrastructure.

AON
Insurance broker
■ Turnover 2007: 2.4 million Euro
■ Intermediate premiums 2007: 24.9 million Euro
■ Employees: 40
■ Branches: Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Brasov

ING Real Estate: market suffers from quality shortfall

Many delivered projects in Romania’s boom in residential and retail property in the last three years do not comply with quality standards, argues Siep Hoeksma, managing director, development division of ING Real Estate.
“The market needs better products,” he says. “There are a lot of secondary real estate developers who do not make a thorough research of the market and the catchment area, before starting a project, because they are only interested in a quick profit.”
The high number of developers is also prompted by flexible legislation. “Regulations are too permissive for investors,” he says. “It is too easy to enter this market and this affects the quality of the delivered products.”
ING Real Estate has budgeted 400 million Euro for developing real estate projects in Iasi, Brasov and Galati.
This year the company will start the works on two residential and retail projects to be delivered in 2009, in two of these cities. All towns with over 100,000 inhabitants are targeted by the development division of the company for projects in all real estate sectors, while Bucharest is the only city chosen for offices.
“Around 40 per cent of the portfolio will be allotted to residential, another 40 per cent to retail and the remaining 20 per cent between office and logistics,” adds Hoeksma.
Last year ING Investments Management purchased Felicia Shopping Center in Iasi, developed by Soconac, a subsidiary of French Group Vinci in partnership with Carrefour.

ING Real Estate
Real estate development
■ Budgeted: 400 million Euro for the development of projects in Iasi, Brasov and Galati.
■ Established in Romania: 2008

Cascade: planning 800 million Euro mixed-use complex

Dutch real estate developer Cascade Group will pour around 800 million Euro in the development of a mixed use complex in south-eastern Bucharest on Blvd Theodor Pallady.
Cascade Group and developer Avrig 35 will start, by the end of 2008, construction on the project over 30 hectares, due for completion in several stages by 2015. “There will be approximately 700,000 sqm of built area, consisting of residential, office and mall developments,” says Alex van Breemen, general manager of Cascade Group.
Now the developer is working on a 60 million Euro office project at the junction of Blvd Barbu Vacarescu and Blvd Lacul Tei. ‘Euro Tower’ is slated for delivery in March 2009 and covers 26,000 sqm on 23 levels.
“We will offer our tenants the first green office building in Bucharest,” says van Breemen. “The building will include green rooftops and large green areas open to the public. Euro Tower offices will come with solutions encouraging the use of bicycles by individual employees.” So far tenants include the HQ for the National Bank of Greece in Romania.
The Cascade Group will target demand for low and mid-price units on the residential market and retail developments in the capital. The firm will not target other Romanian cities for the next two years. “However, for the future, we intend to expand to Serbia and Ukraine,” says van Breemen.

Cascade Group
Real estate developer
Subsidiary of East and Central European Venture Capital BV
■ Projects include: Euro Tower office [Strada Barbu Vacarescu], mixed-use complex on Blvd Theodor Pallady

Remco: logistics parks seeing upturn

Facility-kit provider Remco Romania completed last year the construction on three major industrial projects.
East Bucharest Logistic Park, located inside the Faur industrial complex, covers over 27,000 sqm and is the second major project built by Remco for real estate agency Archonto Casa.
In Bors, Bihor county the company delivered last year an electronic products plant and is now building a new facility for transport and logistics firm Centrum. Other projects include a new production facility for takeaway food chain Snack Attack, in Balotesti, Ilfov county and the expansion of beer plant Bere Mures, recently bought by Heineken, in Targu Mures. The company is aiming for new projects and partners with specialism in mounting and accessories in south and south-eastern Romania.
“Considering the dynamics of the investments in the south and south-eastern part of Romania, we are looking for new business partners in these areas,” says Dinu Ion, general manager of Remco Romania.

Remco Romania
Part of the Janssen de Jong Groep
Factory-kit construction firm
■ Turnover 2007: 40 per cent increase on 2006

ISDC: IT specialists attracted by work challenges

Joint Romanian-Dutch software solutions provider ISDC Romania believes the way to solve the skills shortage in Romania is by investing in human capital and a work environment conducive to the workers. “Nowadays, IT specialists don’t change their job for a higher salary but for the complexity and attractiveness of the work,” believes Marcel Anghel, managing director of ISDC Romania.
Between 2004 and 2006, ISDC doubled its growth and, since 2006, has been increasing by 30 to 40 per cent annually. The company offers IT services for Europe, but not yet Romania. Around 80 per cent of its clients are Dutch, while the rest are mostly British and Swiss. Adecco, ABN Amro and Time Warner Publishing are some of ISDC’s clients. “Once complex projects and dynamic clients will appear in Romania, we will accept the challenge,” says Anghel.

ISDC Romania
Provider of custom-made
software solutions
■ Turnover 2007: seven million Euro
■ Predicted turnover 2008: eight million Euro
■ Predicted profit 2008: one million Euro
■ Employees 2007: 130

Larive: advising westerners entering market

Romania has few consultancies specialised in business development because large locally-based investment banks are already offering these services, but Larive offers pre- and post-investment advisory services and support, market research and headhunting.
“In Romania, about 70 per cent of our clients are foreign investors from western Europe who need our help to enter this market,” says Daniel Ionescu, managing partner at Larive Romania. “The rest are local firms that want to develop their business by attracting financial or strategic foreign partners or to access European financing, such as structural funds.”
Larive is focused on mergers and acquisitions, but also offers services to foreign companies relocating to Romania. However Ionescu believes that in the next three to five years Romania will lose its attractiveness as a target for relocation.

Larive
Consultancy in business development
■ Turnover 2007: one million Euro
■ Profit 2007: 153,000 Euro
■ Predicted turnover 2008: 1.075 million Euro

Quadra: expanding retail in Bucharest and Sibiu

Oak and pine furniture producer Quadra Invest is opening two new European Heritage stores in Bucharest and Sibiu and a showroom in Targoviste, Dambovita county.
Quadra Invest currently sells its 18th century-style furniture in a European Heritage store in Bucharest’s Historic Centre and opened a second store inside Bucharest Home & Design Mall last March.
The company started the business in Romania with a production facility, in Targoviste, Dambovita county and this year will open a showroom and warehouse in the same city.
The third furniture shop will open inside the European Retail Park in Sibiu this month. “We estimate that these new shops will boost our sales by ten to 20 per cent on the previous year,” says Gijsbertus Huijink, general manager of Quadra Invest.

Quadra Invest
Oak and pine furniture producer and exporter
Owner of ‘European Heritage’ stores
■ Turnover 2007: 5.3 million Euro

Lugera & Makler: companies must train to retain

Banking, construction and IT are the domains most affected by the lack of qualified personnel in Romania, says Cristina Savuica, managing partner of personnel firm Lugera & Makler Romania. “Many people have been leaving Romania to work in countries where they are better paid,” says Savuica. “Now the trend is for firms to hire young graduates and train them in Romania.”
The headhunting firm is set on expansion. Last year, Lugera & Makler’s turnover increased by 60 per cent to 12.5 million Euro. This year, the company forecasts a larger increase to 20 million Euro and will also open one more branch in Sibiu.

Lugera & Makler
Personnel firm
■ Turnover 2007: 12.5 million Euro
■ Forecast turnover 2008: 20 million Euro
■ Branches: Bucharest, Ploiesti, Brasov, Iasi, Arad, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara

CSi: planning new HQ and manufacturing hall

System integrator in intelligent material handling systems CSi has a production site in Cluj-Napoca for products destined for the mother-company in Raamsdonksveer, the Netherlands.
CSi designs, produces and implements logistics systems, such as robots and machines, for handling and distributing products. The company’s total investment is four million Euro, but CSi will continue operations in Romania by building another headquarters and an additional manufacturing hall of over 10,000 sqm.
“Our market consists of many of the 50 world leading producers of fast moving consumer goods, mainly in the food and drinks industry and their distributors,” says Daniel Malutan, general manager at CSi Romania. In Romania, CSi has sold its products through CSi the Netherlands to weapons and ammunition manufacturer Fabrica de Arme Cugir and Electrolux in Satu Mare.

CSi Romania
Manufacturer
■ Turnover 2007: eight million Euro
■ FDI 2007: four million Euro

KLG Europe Logistics: building on existing estate

With six cross-docking centres, where merchandise is unloaded from one mode of transport to another, the logistics and distribution company, KLG Europe Logistics SRL is focusing for 2008 on building on its existing estate.
“We do not exclude the possibility of an acquisition or a merger at some point in the future, but for now organic growth is the best strategy for KLG and we plan to increase the capacity of our cross-docking centres in Cluj-Napoca and Targu Secuiesc,” says Dragos Geletu, CEO of KLG Europe Logistics SRL.
The main objective in 2008 for KLG is to increase its turnover to 12 million Euro.
“Another strong point is our partnership with [warehouse group] Rynart, which will offer us the opportunity to expand our logistics capacity in Bucharest with a 20,000 square metre warehouse,” says Geletu.

KLG Europe Logistics SRL
Logistics group
■ Turnover 2007: seven million Euro
■ Turnover 2008: 12 million Euro
■ Cross-docking locations: Bucharest, Targu Secuiesc, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Craiova, Constanta

TNT: courier market growth to slow

This year the courier and delivering market will not see as significant a growth as it has witnessed in the past years, says Bogdan Enache, country general manager, local courier and package delivering company TNT Romania.
“I think that the total value of the market will reach 230 million Euro with the biggest weight coming from international couriering,” he adds.
With a turnover of about 32 million Euro, TNT Romania now has a market share of five per cent.
“We are developing very fast, but we are not interested in gaining a bigger market share, that would be very easy,” says Enache. “A big market share does not necessarily mean that a business is successful.”
For 2008, TNT excludes the possibility of any merger or take-over.

TNT Romania
Courier service
■ Turnover 2007: 32 million Euro
■ Profit 2007: 5.6 million Euro
■ Predicted turnover 2008: 39 million Euro
■ Branches: 20

 

Report by Ana-Maria Nitoi,
Alexandra Pehlivan,
Corina Ilie and Michael Bird