The Manager of the Year

Robert Rekkers, the CEO of Banca Transilvania, is a graduate of the Rotterdam University of Business and he holds two degrees in both Economics and Law. Robert is a Banker with over 20 years of experience, mostly in Emerging Markets, but also in mature and aggressive markets like Frankfurt or New York. He started his career working for ABN AMRO in Amsterdam in 1985. He held several position within this Bank, working in Paris, Frankfurt, Asuncion - Paraguay, and also New York. He was Country Manager of ABN AMRO in Colombia and in Romania before joining Banca Transilvania as the CEO and member of the Board, in October 2002.

Talking about his “playground”, Banca Transilvania, it is part of the Banca Transilvania Financial Group. In the 11 years since its inception, it has grown into a large financial institution, with more than 150 business units and over 2,400 employees. The bank’s market share has increased continuously, and Banca Transilvania is now one of the country’s 10 largest banks. In 2004, it was named “The Bank of the Year” by “Piata Financiara” magazine.

Violeta Ciurel, the CEO of ING, graduated International Business and Economics - Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest and she got her Ph.D. in Economics in 1992. After this she also followed the Programme for Management Development in Harvard Business School in 1994 and had different other studies and researches at Durham Business School and the University of Reading in Great Britain. She also earned the LLIF designation - LIMRA Leadership Institute in US and followed several business courses on management, finance and leadership at the ING Business School.

Violeta works for ING Group since 1997 when she started as a marketing and training sales force manager in the Greenfield life insurance operations that started in Romania. From January 1st, 2000 to October 2004 she held the position of General Manager of the ING Life Insurance and Executive Director, Retail Distribution and Insurance ING.

Silviu Hotaran In 2004 Silviu Hotaran was appointed general manager of Microsoft South-East Europe, a newly created region, after serving as general manager of Microsoft Romania since 1996. Today he is responsible for the overall Microsoft business development in ten countries in South-East Europe. In this role he works closely with customers, government leaders and industry partners in the region. Before joining Microsoft, Hotaran was a researcher at the Research Institute for Computer Technique

in Bucharest and then general manager of Ciel Romania, an accounting software producer. Hotaran holds a master of computer science degree from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. He is married and has a 19 year old son. He enjoys reading, basketball and swimming.