The company officials would not comment on the information.
The Belgian executive was appointed managing director of Unilever South Central Europe in June 2009, replacing Alexandra Gatej.
Unilever South Central Europe controls the operations in several countries in the region from Bucharest: Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Moldova and Kosovo. The Romanian market is the most important of these markets, as it generates more than 50% of the revenue, according to the latest information available.
With a 24-year expertise within Unilever, Marc Desenfans became managing director of Unilever Francophone West Africa in 2003. He had worked in sales and marketing before that and in 1999 began his term as managing director of Unilever Hong Kong. Market sources say a Polish executive will replace him at the top of Unilever South Central Europe.
Unilever arrived in Romania in 1996 when it bought detergent plant Dero in Ploiesti (southern Romania), where it is currently manufacturing the Omo and Dero products. It has a second plant in Ploiesti, close to the detergent facility, where it makes margarine and spices branded as Delma, Delikat and Knorr.
Unilever manufacturing and distribution operations on the Romanian market generated EUR195 million in revenues in 2010. The bulk of the revenue, EUR180 million, came from Unilever South Central Europe, which handles distribution. Total revenue rose by 3% in 2011, according Desenfans, thus exceeding EUR200 million.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)