Czech comps among best in Central and Eastern Europe--press

CEZ ranks first, PKN Orlen of Poland second and Zentiva third as companies with most convincing and coherent strategy, HN says, adding Czech companies have never ranked so high in the Euromoney charts.

CEZ shares have soared 80 percent in the past year, the biggest growth among all the monitored companies in Central and Eastern Europe.

CEZ is buying companies in Romania and Bulgaria, and is also eyeing the Russian market.

Zentiva is expanding eastwards as well. Last year, it bought into Sicomed of Romania. It is operating on the Russian market and seeking to enter the market in Bulgaria.

Real estate agent Orco occupied fourth place among small companies. It is headquartered in Luxembourg but listed on the Prague bourse BCPP.

Fixed-line operator Cesky Telecom was listed as a company with the most transparent accounting system in the entire region.

Euromoney also appreciated the quality of Telecom's and CEZ's website.

Banks and companies trading in oil and natural gas are listed predominantly in Euromoney's charts this year, among them Austria's Erste Bank, which owns Ceska sporitelna, and petrochemical group Unipetrol, the daily said.