Top management changes at Siemens Romania

At the end of January, Wolfgang Flandorfer was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Siemens SRL, one of the local subsidiaries of the German Siemens group, which operates a €321 million business in Romania. Flandorfer replaced Wolfgang Hirzi, CEO of Siemens SRL between 2006 and 2009, who ran the company together with Country Manager Adrian Baicusi, until the latter left the company in October 2008. Flandorfer, who currently is Interim CEO of Siemens SRL, previously held a top management position in the company, as Technical Manager, appointed by Siemens Austria. Baicusi is currently General Manager of Transelectrica, the national energy transporter, after leaving the German company’s Country Manager position he occupied for five years. Siemens is a major player on the Romanian energy equipment, railway, IT, and healthcare markets. The German group is expecting a double-digit rise in local businesses in 2009, in spite of the financial crisis, considering forecasts about high demand for energy equipment and also the growth of the oil and gas divisions. Siemens posted revenues of €77.3 billion in fiscal year 2008, and income from continuing operations worth €1.859 billion. The company is a major investor in research and development (R&D) activities, with €3.8 billion invested in fiscal 2008, representing 4.9 percent of company revenues. It has 32,300 R&D employees worldwide, and 150 R&D locations in over 30 countries. Results are equally impressive, as the enterprise had 8,200 inventions in fiscal year 2008, and 55,000 active patents. The firm’s market capitalization amounted to €56,647 million at the end of the 2008 fiscal year, computed based on outstanding shares, according to company data. (S.D.)