The European Innovation Council (EIC) regularly hosts EIC Corporate Days, matchmaking events between Europe's largest corporates and EIC beneficiaries. In this new series, we will discover what makes these corporates tick, what's their approach to innovation and what they are looking for. After the EIC Corporate Day with OMV Petrom, we met with Ionut Cristian Ciubotaru, Vice President for Business Development, Downstream Gas & Power at the company to provide us with a few insights.
On 26-27 January 2022, the European Innovation Council (EIC) along with OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy company in South-Eastern Europe, primarily engaged in the oil and gas sectors, brought together 22 EIC beneficiaries to pitch their innovative solutions for the betterment of new solar photovoltaic systems, energy storage solutions, increased circular economy technologies, and more. After this corporate event, we had the chance to meet with Ionut Cristian Ciubotaru and pose him some questions. Here are his views about it.
Can you briefly describe your role within the company?
I’m the Vice President for Business Development at OMV Petrom and, in a nutshell, I’m responsible for developing activities within the company mainly in the Gas and Power business areas. In addition, I’m also in charge of the energy transition programme OMV Petrom has announced recently – and all it entails.
Can you tell us more about your approach to open innovation?
Part of my focus and business area activity is digitalisation, which is in line with online platforms and process efficiency. Both innovation and digitalisation are part of OMV Petrom’s DNA, we’ve had had many initiatives that showcase it – starting from production to interfacing with the customers. Therefore, innovation plays a key role in our targets, and I believe that through it we can increase the motivation of our colleagues. Hence participating in these types of initiatives makes it that much possible for that to happen.
What are the challenges you face in terms of (open) innovation?
There are many challenges. The first one is knowing how to move away from the so-called Status Quo – people tend to be conservative, and it can be difficult to change their mindset and bring them onboard. The second one is the energy crisis we’re starting to face now – as OMV Petrom is the largest company in the energy area, you can imagine that the challenges we’re facing can be quite a few. Thus, in my opinion, innovation always represents a solution and a way out of challenging times.
Recently you teamed up with the EIC to co-host an EIC Corporate Day. Explain the motivation behind joining forces with the EIC.
We see the EIC as a strategic partner when it comes to innovation. In that sense, co-hosting this Corporate Day with them allowed us to witness a great level of professionalism and innovation from the participants. Being the first company in South-Eastern Europe to participate in such a positive initiative made us proud, and the way everything was organised between all parties contributed to a successful event.
What are the benefits/advantages of working with the EIC?
The biggest advantage is the broad view the EIC has on innovation. In addition, you can access a substantial number of companies with great ideas in various areas. When you align these two aspects to the increased expertise, we get by bringing in EIC’s knowledge, joining forces with the EIC to co-organise events makes it that much better.
What mindset and skills do you look for in companies you bring to your ecosystem?
Besides the innovation topic that concerns specific areas of interest in our company, we’re looking for companies that are engaged and motivated to deliver. Not only in terms of a specific level of maturity, but also of readiness, problem-solving, and professionalism.
What type of partnerships are you looking for with startups (joint venture, acquisitions, joint R&D, etc.)?
Hopefully, with the help of the EIC, we can find different funding ways, but we’re open to different ways of working that promote strong and efficient business relations in the future.
Recently the EIC launched the EIC fund. If you are looking to (co-)invest, what are the main factors you take into consideration?
Innovation is the starting point for many initiatives that have good criteria points, and for OMV Petrom the main factors we look for are 1) sustainability, 2) scalability, and 3) profitability. For us, these are all aligned, and, at the end of the day, we need to put together a strong business case that makes sense and promotes these three main factors that are important for our company.
Any advice/tips for companies that want to work with you?
My advice is when you join initiatives such as these ‘EIC Corporate Day’ ones, during the pitching part come with real examples. That will certainly increase your success rate.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.