The kinetic properties of electroluminescent ZnS:Mn thin film cells excited by a short voltage pulse of 10 mu s were investigated. The phenomenon of the time delay of the electroluminescence maximum was observed. The decay part of the electroluminescence curve consists of two exponential kinetic components with a long lifetime of 333 mu s and a short lifetime of 98 mu s. The model of energy transfer between monomolecular centres was applied to explain the time delay of the electroluminescence maximum. It is shown that energy is transferred from Cu to two kinds of manganese centres : Mn2+ ions and Mn2+ -Mn2+ pairs.