CEE Summit of the Vienna Stock Exchange: Privatizations as a Driver of the Economy and the Capital Market

Companies benefit from privatizations, especially via IPOs, as these result in greater operational efficiency, thus improving their international competitiveness. In addition to safeguarding jobs, successful companies create even more employment and therefore support overall economic growth. Privatization is not only a means to raise additional capital through the stock market, but has advantages for the national economy per se. These findings are the outcome of a round of discussions held at the CEE Summit of the Vienna Stock Exchange, which has taken place in Vienna today. Guests of honor included Victor Cionga, CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Ivan Takev, CEO of the Sofia Stock Exchange, Silvia Davidoiu, Ambassador of Romania to Austria, and Elena Radkova Shekerletova, Ambassador of Bulgaria to Austria, among other financial markets experts from Bulgaria, Romania and Austria.

Michael Buhl, Member of the Management Board of the Vienna Stock Exchange and CEE Stock Exchange Group, hosted the CEE Summit and pointed out: "While we generally believe that the home market is the best place for companies to list, we are also convinced that the Vienna Stock Exchange is an excellent alternative for CEE companies that are interested in a dual listing”. 

Numerous experts discussed the attractiveness of CEE companies to investors, analysts and investment banks in the current capital market environment. Although the CEE region is affected by prevailing capital market conditions in Europe, it still offers an enormous potential: The region of Central and Eastern Europe is THE growth region in Europe; in its mid-term forecast, the International Monetary Fund expects a cumulated growth rate of 17% for CEE until 2017, compared to only 7% for the Eurozone. 

As stock markets are currently dominated by politics, investors are acting cautiously with regard to IPOs. Nonetheless, companies and investors are increasingly showing interest in corporate bonds. This was another topic discussed on the panel "Is the Issuance of Eurobonds a Financing Option for a CEE Company?”.