“My intention was to broaden my management experience with other projects and I am currently weighing several opportunities, both entrepreneurial and in other corporations,” Valentin Petrof, 40, said.
“We’ve managed to make profit at Manpower in each of the last five years and this is the most important change compared with the time before that. I am confident the group will continue to grow.”
Manpower has been operating in Romania since 2003 and last year posted 175.8 million lei (EUR39 million) revenue, down 16% on the previous year, according to Finance Ministry data. The decline is because the company dropped some volume projects that had unsustainable profit margins, Petrof said. Despite the 16% decline in revenue, net profit rose 16% on 2014 to RON2.1 million.
Petrof took the position of country manager of ManpowerGroup in May 2011, after a more than 13-year experience in sales and management. At the time Manpower had been looking for a country manager for six months. With him at the helm, ManpowerGroup’s revenue rose by 125% in 2010-2015, according to Finance Ministry data.
Prior to joining ManpowerGroup, Valentin Petrof had worked as managing director of financial services company Credit Express for Romania and Bulgaria for two years.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)