Grocer Mercator, home appliance maker Gorenje and pharma company Krka were the top three Slovenian multinational corporations in 2007, according to the rankings presented on Tuesday by the Centre for International Relations at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences.
The data, which excludes financial companies, shows that Slovenian corporations are small on a global scale, as only five of them held assets in excess of EUR 800,000 abroad.
According to economist Marjan Svetlicic, 75% of Slovenian multinational companies are small companies. However, these companies recorded dynamic growth between 2004 and 2006 and doubled their assets abroad to nearly EUR 3bn.
Their sales abroad rose by 50% in the period to EUR 5.5bn and the top 25 employed 23,616 people outside of Slovenia, Svetlicic added.
Mercator, Gorenje and Krka account for more than half of the assets held abroad by Slovenian corporations, while the top 5 manage 68% of all such assets.
The analysis also shows that Slovenian corporations predominantly invest in Europe, mainly in the markets of the former Yugoslavia. They have lately also begun showing interest in Russia, China and other Asian countries.
The top 25 Slovenian multinational corporations have 286 foreign offices in 53 countries.
The top three are followed by food producer Droga Kolinska, energy company Petrol, hardware retailer Merkur, logistics company Intereuropa and paints and coatings maker Helios.
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