The Best Estonian Enterprises 2010 are Ericsson Eesti and Tallink Grupp

7 September 2010

Enterprise Estonia
Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Estonian Employers Confederation

In the evening of 7 September the winners of this year’s entrepreneurship awards were announced at the Estonia Concert Hall. The Entrepreneurship Award 2010 given by Enterprise Estonia (EAS) was awarded to Ericsson Eesti AS and in the Estonian Companies’ Competitiveness Ranking 2010 compiled by the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Estonian Employers Confederation the first prize was awarded to Tallink Grupp AS.

In addition to the two main awards, winners were announced in 6 award categories of the competitions and the most competitive companies were declared in 12 areas of business activities. 

According to Ülari Alamets, Head of the Management Board of EAS, the activities of all the nominees of the Entrepreneurship Award are evidence to the fact that it is possible to be successful even during the current time. “All of you who have come out healthy and strong from the economic recession can congratulate yourselves. There is reason to be happy as was a character of Juhan Liiv: “Jaak, damn it, my feet touch the bottom!”,” said Alamets in his speech to the entrepreneurs. “The main award was given to Ericsson Eesti AS that took over a part of the production of Elcoteq, was able to increase export and is impressive in terms of additional value per employee, furthermore, brought new products to the market and showed decent business revenue,” said Alamets about the winner.

The aim of organising the Entrepreneurship Award competition is to give the state’s recognition to successful Estonian companies and to improve awareness of entrepreneurship. The best of the award categories were selected by experts of different areas of activity, the winner of the main award was selected by a high-level panel lead by the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts.

Developer of the Year 2010 was awarded to Polarwerk OÜ that provides construction, repairs and maintenance services on railways and has been able to perform more and more complicated works and participate in procurements as the main contractor.

Innovator 2010 was awarded to Massi Miliano OÜ that created the virtual fitting room Fits.me or the robot mannequin meeting the measurements of the person that will help trying the suitability of clothes when buying from e-shops.

Exporter 2010 was awarded to Wendre AS that is a company with high export turnover, which was able, unlike many other large exporters, to increase its export in 2009, invested in new technologies and brought new products to the market.

Foreign Investor 2010 was awarded to Ericsson Eesti AS that took over a part of the production of Elcoteq and added production of 4G network devices.

Tourism Innovator 2010 was awarded to Maarja Magdaleena Gild MTÜ that is an integral creative centre joining artists and artisans of Pärnu and has 18 masters halls offering the visitors active holidays and experiential tourism, supports strongly preservation and vitality of the local crafts traditions, and is involved in organising the Pärnu Gild Days, advent events and Christmas fair.

Additionally, this year has one new category, Design Applier 2010 that was awarded to Balteco AS, which as the biggest bath tub manufacturer in Northern Europe uses the creations of Estonian designers Toomas Kelder, Matti Õunapuu, Tiit Liiv, Tõnis Krikk, Harri Erlich and Sven Sõrmus for designing its products.

The aim of the Competitiveness Ranking is to find out the most competitive companies, offer the companies a possibility for comparing themselves against other companies of their kind and to assess success, productiveness and sustainability of Estonian companies. The competitiveness ranking is compiled as a general table, for small and medium-sized enterprises and by areas of activity in 12 categories.

The title The Most Competitive Enterprise 2010 was awarded to Tallink Grupp AS that won before Mažeikiu Nafta Trading House that gained second place in the general ranking of competitiveness by 1.5 percent. The sales revenue and investments of Talllink Grupp are without competition the highest in the competitiveness ranking of 2010.

The following companies were winners by areas of activity:
BLRT Grupp AS – the most competitive industrial and energy enterprise 2010;
A. Le Coq AS – the most competitive food industry enterprise 2010;
Humana Sorteerimiskeskus OÜ – the most competitive retail enterprise 2010;
Mažeikiu Nafta Trading House OÜ – the most competitive wholesale enterprise 2010;
DenEesti OÜ – the most competitive tourism enterprise 2010;
Riigi Kinnisvara AS – the most competitive business service and real estate enterprise 2010;
AS Vopak E.O.S. – the most competitive transport and logistics enterprise 2010;
Merko Ehitus AS – the most competitive construction enterprise 2010;
EMT AS – the most competitive communication and IT-services enterprise 2010;
Markilo OÜ – the most competitive agriculture and forestry enterprise 2010;
If Eesti Kindlustus AS – the most competitive financial brokerage enterprise 2010;
AS G4S Eesti – the most competitive service enterprise 2010;
Rentest OÜ – the most competitive small and medium-sized enterprise 2010.

In total 342 Estonian companies participated in compiling the Competitiveness ranking 2010, 325 of which qualified for the final ranking according to methodology. Participation in the ranking was voluntary.

Furthermore, Estonian Management Quality Award 2010 was awarded, which in the category of large companies was given to Enics Eesti AS.

In addition to that, award Recognize Promoters of Enterprise 2010 was given to Testmarket.eu, an English-language web environment founded and managed by Eesti Ekspress journalist Toivo Tänavsuu, which introduces Estonian technology companies, key persons and achievements.

Best Student Company 2010 is Pääsuke (Rolling Art) from Tartu Art High School.

Swedbank’s special award for innovative exporter was given to Mobi Solutions.

Additional information:

Entrepreneurship Award 2010
Erki Peegel, director of EAS’s Marketing and Communication Unit
Tel 627 9456, 51 65808
erki dot peegel at eas dot ee

Estonian Companies’ Competitiveness Ranking 2010
Siim Raie, Director General of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Tel 604 0060, 50 76807
siim at koda dot ee