The analysis considered more than 200 companies included in the main indexes on 13 stock markets in Central and Eastern Europe. In the case of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), the shares which were included in the study were the five financial investment companies (SIF) and the ten enterprises in the BET index. Romania has 11 companies among the top 50 best returns on the stock exchange, including Rompetrol, Biofarm, Dafora, and Broker Cluj. The first place in terms of highest returns since the beginning of this year belonged to Vilkyskiu Pienine, a company in Lithuania operating on the dairy market, followed by the Motor Sich company, activating on the Ukrainian aircraft market, and the Polish KGHM copper producer. With a 254 percent increase since the beginning of this year, Rompetrol Rafinare ranks fourth on the list, with the oil company’s shares soaring this year, due to expectations on the takeover offer that the Rompetrol group is due to initiate.

The yields of the top 50 companies range from 62.7 percent to 326.67 percent, with more than half of the companies posting an increase of over 100 percent in the first 11 months of this year. Lithuania is the best represented country in the Top 50, with 12 companies, which gained over 79 percent, followed by Romania and Ukraine. Poland, the country with the largest stock exchange in the region, has only four companies in this list, one of which is in third place.

Only four of the five SIFs managed to enter the Top 50, considering that SIF Muntenia had a very weak evolution this year, rising almost 13 percent, compared to the other SIFs, who gained more than 100 percent. Most increases registered by SIFs were registered as of the second quarter, when speculations regarding the possibility of raising the maximum ownership threshold, from the current one percent, intensified.