Ten years after Romania's Communist regime fell in hand with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, Playboy launched its first Romanian edition.
The 15th international edition of the magazine is said to be a partnership between Playboy Enterprises, Attica of Greece, and Media Pro, a Romanian media group. Circulation is projected at 40,000, Reuters says, with a newsstand price equaling $1.50.
The Romanian edition follows comparable ventures in other former Warsaw Pact countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, and Russia. The first Romanian issue hits newsstands Friday, featuring a blonde model-broadcaster posing as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.
Monroe, of course, graced the first Playboy cover in 1953, when publisher Hugh Hefner featured her as the magazine's first centerfold by way of a series of calendar poses for which she'd long surrendered the rights.
The premier Romanian issue also features interviews with local male celebrities including former tennis star Ilie Nastase - famed for his court pranks and temper in the 1970s, earning him the nickname Nasty.
Playboy Romania news editor Dan Silviu says the magazine would cater to men's fantasies long repressed in the Communist era. Romania's Communist government was thrown out in a violent 1989 uprising.
