WHILE MUCH OF the attention of investment bankers and fund managers involved in emerging Europe tends to concentrate on the country that dominates the region, Russia, it is businesses from nations closer to the heart of Europe that take many of the lead slots in Euromoney’s latest survey of the best-managed companies in central & eastern Europe. Leading firms from the most developed countries in the region – such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Turkey – grasped the need for advanced investor relations strategies many years ago, and these have clearly been reaping some benefits.
The top-ranked company in this year’s survey is utility CEZ, which according to our poll of 63 analysts covering the region, is not only the best-managed company in CEE but also scores as having the highest standard of corporate governance, the most convincing and coherent strategy and the most transparent accounts.
It’s something of a clean sweep for the Czech-based group, whose chairman and chief executive, Martin Roman, appears well on the way to achieving his goal of making CEZ "the leader in power markets of central and southeast Europe".