Which Bulgarian companies were among the largest in Southeastern Europe in 2023?

Eleven Bulgarian companies are among the 100 largest companies in South-Eastern Europe according to the SEE TOP 100 annual ranking for 2023 of the economic news agency SeeNews, published today.

The oil refining company LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas ranks in the highest position, seventh, among the Bulgarian participants, with revenues of 4.4 billion euros. The ranking also includes Aurubis Bulgaria (11th position), LUKOIL Bulgaria (17th position), Astra Bioplant (33rd position), National Electric Company (39th position), BA Glass Bulgaria (50th position), Bulgargaz (59th position), Kozloduy NPP (61st position), Kaufland Bulgaria (63rd position), Lidl Bulgaria (70- th position) and Saksa (83rd position).

For the third year in a row, the Romanian gas and oil giant OMV Petrom, part of the Austrian group OMV, tops the ranking with 7.7 billion euros in revenue - 42% less than in 2022.

In first place in terms of profits in the region is another Romanian energy company, Hidroelectrica. The company, which went public in 2023, ended the year with a profit of almost 1.3 billion euros.

SEE TOP 100 is an annual ranking of the hundred companies with the largest total revenues registered in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. The publication also includes rankings of the largest banks and insurers in Southeastern Europe.

After a year of record-high sales and profits, in 2023 the largest companies in the region saw revenues fall by 11% to 198.4 billion euros, as the ranking shows. Almost half of the companies in the SEE TOP 100 ended the year with lower revenues. However, their total profit rose slightly to 10.5 billion euros - from 10.3 billion euros the year before.

With the calming of the prices of energy raw materials on the global markets, the revenues of the largest gas and oil companies in our region have shrunk by 20%, but these companies continue to have the largest share in the regional private sector.

The year is also defined as very successful for retail chains, which registered high turnovers and profits thanks to the stable growth of personal incomes.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov