of 'starting capital' and a 1979 Volvo, the twosome set up
their own little business which made rubber stamps. Dan
Vlasceanu explains: "Perhaps it is linked to the Communist
past, but Romanians are crazy about rubber stamps. If a
document is not covered in stamps, they soon tend to think
it has no value. So we started making rubber stamps for all
sorts of small new businesses and institutions. We made
thousands of them at a profit of three dollars each."
After taking these first steps down the road of com
merce, the duo started looking round for new opportuni
ties. They found them in advertising. Marketing and adver
tising were still far from commonplace in Romania, so Dan
and Andrei decided to move into that gap in the market and
set up V&B Advertising. In the period when they worked in
their advertising agency the two men came to the conclu
sion that cooperation with a big, strong firm would be of
essential importance for their future. An association with
such a business would bring benefits for both parties: the
business would acquire knowledge of the local market and
the two Romanians would learn the finer arts of doing busi
ness.
In 1991 Ron Kolle was present on behalf of Heineken at
a trade fair in Bucharest. He was looking for a company
which might perhaps want to work together with Heineken
and he has clear memories of his first meeting with the two
men: "The trade fair lasted ten days and after eight days we
still hadn't found anyone. On one of the final days Andrei
and Dan strolled into our stand. They said that they wanted
to work for us but they made it clear straight away that
they had nothing to offer: no office, no personnel, no
money. I had a good feeling about these gentlemen and I
gave them the beer that was in the stand, plus the POS
material and said: 'Gentlemen, go ahead.' Three months
later the first order came in for one pallet."
TAXES I
w
Pull steadily, so that the rope doesn't break. That is the best
description of the growth of Heinro and Heineken in I
Romania. No needless risks, no impulsive decisions, but
simply keeping things under control. It is no surprise that
Heinro and Heineken have opted for this approach. As in
many other former Communist countries, these are uncer-
tain times for private initiative. 5
The legislation still contains blank areas and the state
coffers are empty. On top of this, the high inflation rate and
the devaluation of the Lei, the Romanian currency, is caus-
