"Romania," reports Gerhard Pries, MEDA's vice president of international fund development, "is a country of contradictions. It is now becoming developed and to a degree considered part of Western Europe. In its cities, you see European-style cafes and construction cranes crowding the skylines, but in some respects it's like life in an old Russian village.

"Driving down a rural road, you might see women in babushkas watching the world go by from their wooden benches in front of their simple homes, but around the next corner, you can see a jogger decked out in an Adidas running outfit listening to an iPod.

"Romania is developing really quickly. The village life of the 1800s will soon be left behind."

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