“Romania has potential to become a more important part of the company in Central and Eastern Europe and see substantial growth,” said Castaldi, who supervises the 3M subsidiaries in 31 countries such as Russia, Turkey, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Serbia and Slovakia.
Only four countries in the region generate higher sales than Romania, Castaldi says, adding the Romanian subsidiary is relatively new, while others were opened 60 or 70 years ago. Russia, Turkey, Poland and Czech Republic generate the highest sales in the region.
3M has a production facility in the Militari district in Western Bucharest, which manufactures the Scotch Brite scrub sponges and employs 15 people. It has 110 more employees in Romania, three quarters of whom in Bucharest, working in sales and marketing.
The most important customers in Romania are Dacia, Porsche, Romtelecom, CEZ, EON and Electrica Serv.
Castaldi says the Romanian subsidiary has the potential to double or even triple the number of employees within five to ten years. “We have bold growth plans for Romania, we believe we’ll double our sales soon.”
3M Romania posted EUR47.5 million revenue in 2012, down 25% on 2011 and EUR10 million profit. Castaldi says he expects revenue to grow by 10% to 15% this year and at least 10% in every of the coming years.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)