Romania has kicked Ukraine off the podium and catapulted from fifth to third place in the most recent CEE Top 500 study conducted by ranking agency Coface.

The positive change was mainly due to the 22.7 percent increase in the number of companies in the top to a total of 54.

Poland ranked first in the top, with 171 companies, followed by Hungary with 66 and Romania, while Ukrainian companies performed the worst, with 28 companies dropping out of the Top 500, leaving the country on the fourth position.

However, despite the growing number of companies within the top, Romania ranks fifth in terms of turnover - EUR 48.5 billion, up 10.8 percent year-on-year, and also fifth in terms of net profit, which increased 37.7 percent.

Also, Romania occupies 11th place with regard to the total number of employees in these companies, which employ 2 percent of all workers in the country, shows the study.

The companies in Romania best positioned in the Top 500 are OMV Petrom SA - 18th place, OMV Petrom Marketing SRL - 30th place, Automobile Dacia SA - on 34th place, and Rompetrol Rafinare SA - on 36.

Other companies in Romania appearing in the top are Rompetrol Downstream SRL, Petrotel - Lukoil SA, Kaufland Romania, Lukoil Romania SRL, Arcelormittal Galati, E.ON Energie Romania SA, Metro Cash and Carry Romania SRL, Electrica Furnizare, GDF Suez Energy Romania and Carrefour Romania.

The highest rise within the rankings – from 492 to 167 – was achieved by Electrica Furnizare, the Romanian public energy provider.

According to Coface, the Top 500 players in the region increased turnover by 5 percent to more than EUR 628 billion in 2012, despite the economic crisis.

However, this performance didn’t lead to a stable development in net profits, which declined by almost 32 percent to EUR 20 billion in 2012, mainly due to the decline in the oil and gas, energy supply, mining and construction sectors.

The CEE Top 500 covers the largest companies in Central and Eastern Europe, and is based on the turnover for the 2012 calendar year. It includes the following countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,  Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com