Riga, Dec. 7, LETA. Eight companies from Latvia, 32 from Lithuania and 10 from Estonia have entered the Top 50 of the largest Baltic companies of the credit risk insurer Coface, representatives of Coface told LETA.
The annual study of the international credit risk insurer Coface analyzes companies with a turnover of more than 300 million euros in the previous calendar year. The “Top 50” of the Baltic States published in November this year also includes eight companies from Latvia – “Elko grupa” (4th place), “Uralkali Trading” (5th place), “Rimi Latvia” (12th place), “Maxima Latvija” “(14th place),” Latvenergo “(18th place),” Severstal Distribution “(20th place). This year, Sanitex also entered the top for the first time (47th place), but two companies from Latvia have left the top.
All three places are shared by Lithuanian companies – Vilniaus Prekyba, Maxima Grupe and Orlen Lietuva. They are characterized not only by rapid growth, but also by high profitability.
The total turnover of all “Top 50” companies reaches 45.97 billion euros, of which 70.3% (32.3 billion euros) is the turnover of Lithuanian companies, 17.1% – the turnover of Latvian companies (7.9 billion euros), while The turnover of Estonian companies is 12.6% of all top companies and is 5.8 billion euros.
Mindaugas Sventicks, head of Coface Baltic, informs that contrary to previous forecasts, the Baltic countries experienced a slight recession in 2020. The initial restrictions on Covid-19 were less severe than elsewhere in Western Europe, and the Baltic economies were supported by export industries and growing consumer and investment demand. As a result, the Baltic economies suffered less than others. Lithuania had a significant advantage – the road transport segment, which was able to operate despite restrictions, unlike ferry traffic in Estonia and the national airline in Latvia.
The Baltic investment in the digital economy and the growing specialization in the provision of information technology (IT) services have had a positive impact on economic development and mitigated the effects of the pandemic. The dominant industries in the Top 50 are: chemical and mineral production, petroleum and plastics, pharmaceuticals, IT and electronics, non-specialized trade, road transport and automotive, agriculture and others.
From the top of Latvia are represented in the IT and electronics industry (“Elko Group”), non-specialized trade (“Rimi Latvia”, “Maxima Latvija” and “Sanitex”), production of chemicals and minerals, production and trade of oil and plastic products (“Uralkali Trading”) , “Circle K Latvia”), electricity generation and trade (“Latvenergo”) and metalworking industry (“Severstal Distribution”). The IT industry was the least affected by the recession caused by the pandemic, Coface explains.
Sventicks emphasizes that the economies of the Baltic States have already recovered in the middle of 2021 and returned to the pre-pandemic level. This trend is expected to continue in the coming months. The retail sector is expected to grow rapidly due to the growing development of e-commerce. The level of household savings has also increased as a result of the crisis.
On the other hand, in 2020, the Baltic states were severely affected by high unemployment, which was higher than elsewhere in the Central and Eastern European region, explains Sventicks. However, the impact of unemployment was also low compared to 2008-2009 during the global financial crisis.
“Overall, the Baltic States are expected to benefit significantly from economic development through EU funds, including the European Recovery Fund, and the investments included in the Rail Baltica project. The challenges that may affect the recovery process are not limited to rapid “Rising electricity prices, but also higher production costs for large producers, which directly affect end consumers. Rising commodity prices, as well as supply chain disruptions and delayed deliveries, have created very challenging conditions for any business,” concludes Sventicks.
He adds that the situation in the health care system also has a significant impact on household consumption and the overall economic growth rate if new restrictions are adopted, especially seeing how hard the Baltic States were hit by the new wave of Covid-19 in the autumn of 2021.
Coface is one of the largest international credit insurers. More than 50,000 customers worldwide use Coface’s services. The company’s turnover in 2020 reached almost 1.5 billion euros.
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