Career: Damian Vatev has passed through all levels of hierarchy

Svetlana Trifonovska

Damian Vatev is genuinely modest and honourable by nature. At 26 he was alredy a co-manager of one of the most well-known meat processing enterprises TANDEM, but he lacks of the boastfulness and haughtiness vanity. Although he was quite young, he possessed the wisdom and tranquility, typical for maturity.

To succeed means to feel happy with what you do. And at economical aspect it means to have a stable business, people to respect you, to feel positive about you. These are some of Damian’s virtues. 

The young man is said to be a spitting image of his father Cyril Vatev. The latter established TANDEM, which in the recent years has been given as an example to his counterparts abroad as an achievement of our home meat processing by Bulgarian ministers. If we must be honest, however, the most important Damian Vatev inherited from his father, is the spirit of a warrior. A quality, without which is useless to set off to conquer peaks. This quality appears in both father and son differently, dependently on the character, but the fire of courage is the same.

What does a loss mean? Of course it is not pleasant if it is something material, but this is not the most important. The real loss is when you sink low, when you must manage without courage, because exactly the courage and the belief give you the strength to go on forward, thinks the young man.

Growing up

We settle all projects and strategies together with the managing team of TANDEM and I take part actively in these processes, the young man relates animatedly. I have been working in the company since my school years. In the very beginning I worked on the production line. It was something natural. In the summer holidays when the company made its start, there were many strenuous moments and my father used to ask me for help. I did it with pleasure. I used to pack minced meat, to stack crates, to work on the sale. I received a salary for everything depending on the particular activity, he defines with a smile. When I graduated the Colleague for Economics and Trade naturally I continued working in the management. My parents didn’t put me under any pressure. It is all to my parent’s credit that they by no means tried to influence on me or manipulate me. I am sure that if I wanted to become an artist, they wouldn’t stay on my way, but on the contrary, they would support me. My present job is a chance, but it is also my choice, the young man is positive.

Marketing

Five years ago Damian Vatev started working in the company marketing. Actually it was its beginning both as a department and as a function. When it started it was a one-man department, after that the business environment necessitated the creation of such a structure. We started to make contacts with advertisement agencies, to prepare advertisement companies and strategies. Things began to get bigger. The present marketing manager now was the first employee in the department. A little later I became a part of the general administration. We have had successes and failures; surely I have learnt a lot of things doing my job. I obtained many contacts and good knowledge of the market and the competition. For every company these things are important. This is the balance which Damial Vatev draws up for the period gone by.   

The farm

Having in mind the lack of quality in Bulgarian raw material the idea for creating a farm for cattle bread for meat came into being. The idea was to produce meat of such quality from special meat breeds, which cannot be found in Bulgaria. The final purpose was a bio cattle-breading, an extremely heavy, difficult and slow process. Damian Vatev took up the organization and the work in the farm solely by himself. The farm is situated in the village of Damianovo in Sevlievo region. The process was rather slow, agriculture and cattle-breading turned up to be an extremely ardous business, but I manage the whole of it. Naturally I employed an agronomist and a vet, who were vital, Damian Vatev says with pride.

Accents

Development

• Damian Vatev is 26 years old.
• He is a co-manager and co-proprietor of TANDEM.
• He was graduated The University for World Economy.
• He is married and has one child.
• He is in charge of the farm for 300 elite heads of cattle bred for meat in Damianovoin the Balkan Mountains in Sevlievo region.
• Our least significant problem is to obtain the necessary land in order to provide for the animals, after that to certify it as a biologically safe and finally to certify the cattle as being bred in a biofarm.
• The competition gets stronger and stronger, but it also means that the business is developing.
• TANDEM is both the high price segment and quality leader.
• The high quality is the philosophy of the company work.