3Q Lorian Ovidiu Vintila Operations and Strategy Director, ZTE Romania

Has ZTE signed contracts with the Romanian state?

In January ZTE signed an agreement memorandum between the Romanian and Chinese ministries. Globally, ZTE has allotted USD 15 billion to investments in telecom. We are now waiting for projects to be implemented in Romania, which will tap into this sum. Romanian state companies are currently studying the possibilities. By the end of Q3, we will probably have the first signs from them regarding the domains in which we should invest. We are very interested in the equipment of fiber optic, delivering wireless services such as WiMax and also providing handsets, as ZTE Corporation is the fourth global producer of handsets worldwide.

How many people work in the Romanian office?

ZTE has up to 150 employees but I cannot give you an exact figure because every month we get help from colleagues from the R&D department and production lines in China. This year we will continue to expand the team, and are currently actively recruiting. We need people specialized in the customization of handsets and engineers for equipping fiber optic.

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In the first stage, we will be recruiting almost 20 more people by the last two weeks of Q4.

What turnover did ZTE post in Romania last year?

Last year we posted a turnover in excess of EUR 40 million. This year we forecast a total of nearly EUR 60 million. We have learned not to build a business of the cash-and-carry type, but a consultative business. This is one of the basic strategies of ZTE Romania, which I joined in 2007. We offer a system called Supplier Loan, with a grace period of two-three years, after which we have a preferential rate of interest, which I cannot disclose, but I can say that it is exaggeratedly small compared to the millions of EUR that are behind the services and products we deliver to certain operators such as Orange, Vodafone, Cosmote, Romtelecom and RDS&RCS.

otilia.haraga@business-review.ro