Estonian Companies’ Competitiveness Ranking 2008
Participants
As many as 420 Estonian companies participated in the compilation of the Estonian Companies’ Competitiveness Ranking 2008 and 375 of them qualified for the final countdown. The main reason for not qualifying was the negative net gain in 2007, but also incompleteness of submitted data and number of financial years which was insufficient for participation.
As last year, the participants could choose between 12 fields of activity in order to benchmark themselves against their competitors. In addition to the general winner, for the second time this year the Most Competitive Small and medium size enterprise were established. We are glad to note that 192 companies wished to be compared to other companies in this category. As in previous years, the largest number of companies in the Competitiveness Ranking was among industrial or energy related (101) enterprises. The least number of companies equally in all the categories (11) came from food industry, tourism, business services, real estate and financial intermediation. It is interesting to note that there were as many construction companies this year as there were last year (55) and there was an intriguing change of positions among the best of the Ranking. Moreover, compared to previous years several large companies did not compete this year, including the winners of various categories.
Winners
Four of the last year’s winners were able to maintain their position and remain highly competitive – BLRT Grupp AS for the fifth and Mažeikiu Nafta Trading OÜ for the third year in a row. It is nice to see new names among the winners, although the names are not very new if you look at the time they have been operating. For the second year in a row Tallink Grupp AS received the title of the Most Competitive Enterprise. Tallink Grupp AS also proved to be the Most Competitive among tourism companies. The winner of The Most Competitive Small and Medium size Enterprise is Kaamos Kinnisvara OÜ, who was established in 2002 and who has also gained a high second place in its own category (business services and real estate).
The companies who have won titles in the Competitiveness Ranking have the average history of 11 years, unless we consider Saku Õlletehas which was established in 1820 and has been operating for 188 years. The youngest winners are Oma Ehitaja AS, Oilseeds Trade AS and Varmapartner OÜ (established in 2005) respectively among construction, agriculture, forestry and retail companies. If we look at the equity capital of the best companies in the Ranking, then almost 7 companies are based 100% on Estonian private capital, 1 company belongs to the Estonian Republic 100%, 1 company is based 100% on foreign capital and the equity capital of the rest of the winners is divided between Estonian and foreign owners .
We are also very proud that almost all the winners are the members of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
THE MOST COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE 2008
The Most Competitive Tourism Enterprise 2007
Tallink Grupp AS (group)
Year of foundation: 1997
Chairman of the Board: Enn Pant
Field of activity: marine transport
Interview with Andres Hunt
The Most Competitive Small and Medium-sized Enterprise 2008
Kaamos Kinnisvara OÜ (group)
Year of foundation: 2002
Chairman of the Board: Priit Uustulnd
Field of activity: real estate development
Interview with Priit Uustulnd
The Most Competitive Retail Enterprise 2008
Varmapartner OÜ
Year of foundation: 2005
Chairman of the Board: Riho Saksus
Field of activity: sale of waste handling equipment
Interview with Riho Saksus
The Most Competitive Wholesale Enterprise 2008
Mazeikiu Nafta Trading House OÜ
Year of foundation: 2003
Chairman of the Board: Tõnu Ääro
Field of activity: wholesale
Interview with Tõnu Ääro
The Most Competitive Industrial and Energy Enterprise 2008
BLRT Grupp AS (group)
Year of foundation: 1996
Chairman of the Board: Fjodor Berman
Field of activity: ship building and repair
Interview with Fjodor Berman
The Most Competitive Food Industry Enterprise 2008
Saku Õlletehase AS
Year of foundation: 1820
Chairman of the Board: Veli Pekka Tennilä
Field of activity: production and wholesale of low-alcohol beverages, table water and soft drinks
Interview with Inga Kuusik
The Most Competitive Construction Enterprise 2008
Oma Ehitaja AS (group)
Year of foundation: 2005
Chairman of the Board: Kaido Fridolin
Field of activity: main contracting for construction, real estate development
Interview with Kaido Fridolin
The Most Competitive Communication and IT-services Enterprise 2008
Eesti Telekom AS (group)
Year of foundation: 1991
Chairman of the Board: Valdo Kalm
Field of activity: telecommunication, activity of holding enterprises
Interview with Valdo Kalm
The Most Competitive Forestry and Agriculture Enterprise 2008
Oilseeds Trade AS
Year of foundation: 2005
Chairman of the Board: Veikko Vahar
Field of activity: trade of cereals and rape seed
Interview with Veikko Vahar
The Most Competitive Business Service and Real Estate Enterprise 2008
Mainor AS (group)
Year of foundation: 1979
Director General: Ants Pilving
Field of activity: business development
Interview with Ants Pilving
The Most Competitive Financial Brokerage Enterprise 2008
Gild Professional Services AS (group)
Year of foundation: 1999
Chairman of the Board: Rain Tamm
Field of activity: investment banking, private baking, management of alternative funds
Interview with Rain Tamm
The Most Competitive Service Company 2008
Olympic Casino Eesti AS
Year of foundation: 1993
Managing Director: Erki Tavas
Field of activity: organisation of gambling
Interview with Andri Avila
The Most Competitive Transportation and Logistics Enterprise 2008
Tallinna Sadam AS (group)
Year of foundation: 1992
Chairman of the Board: Ain Kaljurand
Field of activity: work of ports
Interview with Ain Kaljurand