RIGA - Thirteen companies from the Baltic States make it onto a new list of the Top 500 Businesses in Central Europe.
The survey is the first of its kind and was carried out by business consultancy Deloitte, based on data from 2006.
Most of the Baltic names on the list are consigned to the lower rankings with just two companies making it into the top 300 places. That is mainly down to the relatively small markets in which Baltic companies tend to operate. The Deloitte ratings are based primarily on company size and as a result, are dominated by businesses in the more populous contries of Central and Eastern Europe such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Leading the Baltic pack by a considerable distance is Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta, which is ranked in 15th position overall and 9th amongst energy companies. Next is Lithuanian supermarket chain Maxima at 75th.
The four Baltic respresentatives are Latvian IT reatiler Elko and electricity utility Latvenergo plus Lithuanian supermarket chains Rimi and Maxima. Then it's a long drop to Lukoil Baltija in the 332 spot. Estonia's top company is Eesti Energia, ranked 359.
The other Baltic companies making it into the top 500 are Rimi, Latvenergo, VP Group (all Latvia), Palink, Lietuvos gelezinkeliai (both Lithuania), plus Transtrade, Tallink and Eesti Telecom (Estonia).
Overall, the top three companies are Poland's PKN Orlen, Hungary's Mol and the Czech Republic's Skoda Auto.
