Companies with Foreign Ownership in the List of the 100 Largest Companies by Revenue in 2022

Out of the 100 businesses that generated the highest revenues in 2022, 22 are owned by foreign citizens and entities, while 12 are under mixed ownership. These companies operate within our country. This article ranks the values associated with these companies and their annual turnover. The data for ranked values are based on turnover declarations in the Financial Statements submitted to the General Directorate of Taxes and listed as information by the economic magazine Monitor, in Issue No. 37 (1099), date 25.09.2023.

Origin of Ownership refers to the Origin of the Direct Individual Owner or Ultimate Owner when the Owner is identified by the Company Extract or Extract of the Ultimate Owner.

When a company is owned by a shareholder that is a Business Company, the Origin of the Company refers to the Country of the Commercial Registry where the company holding shares or capital in the Company is directly registered. The Law on Declaration of Beneficial Owners, as amended, does not enable the full identification of the Beneficial Owner. Often, the Extracts published in the National Business Centre do not show the Companies’ Origin and Beneficial Owners.

Five companies with Turkish ownership listed among the 100 businesses with the highest annual turnover for 2022 have generated 60.6 billion ALL, equivalent to 2.84% of our annual GDP. Similarly, five other companies from the Netherlands have reported a turnover of 49.9 billion ALL or 2.34% of GDP. The Cayman Islands rank third in terms of turnover value.

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Table: Annual Turnover 2022, Foreign-owned companies by Origin
Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

The turnover of the 100 largest companies was 1.24 trillion ALL (12.4 billion dollars). Foreign-owned companies achieved an annual turnover of 249.5 billion ALL, which accounts for 20.1% of the total turnover of the top 100 companies. These revenues, generated in 2022 by companies operating in Albania but owned by foreigners, amount to approximately 11.7% of the GDP for the year 2022.

Table: Foreign-owned Companies, Ranking by 2022 annual turnover
Source: Open Corporates Albania, Monitor
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Table: Capital Origin by Countries and Declarations in the Registry of Beneficial Owners, Total Foreign-Owned Companies
Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd, which holds the concession contract for oil extraction in the Patos-Marinë oilfield, is the largest foreign-owned company engaging in economic activities in Albania (ranking ninth among the top 100 companies). The owner with the same name is a company registered in the Cayman Islands and subsequently has a chain of owners registered in various countries. Bankers Petroleum has only the highest-ranking executives identified in the Register of Beneficial Owners (RBO) declared on 19.09.2022. The 26.8 billion ALL turnover realized in 2022 accounts for 1.3% of the GDP and 4.8% of the value of State Treasury Transactions for 2022.

State Treasury Transactions 2022 represent the total value of payments executed by all Budgetary Institutions from the State Treasury for the year 2022.

The National Commercial Bank (Banka Kombëtare Tregtare) ranks second in terms of the highest turnover among foreign-owned companies. Its annual turnover of 23.7 billion ALL accounts for 1.1% of the GDP and 4.3% of the value of Treasury Transactions  2022. The company is directly owned by the Turkish firm Calik Holding Anonim Sirketi, with the ultimate owner being Mr. Ahmet Çalik, who owns 91.9% of the capital.

Ranked third among the list of foreign-owned companies (13th in the top 100 companies), Gen – I Tirana, operates in the electricity trading sector. According to data from the Slovenian Business Registry, Gen – I Tirana appears to be owned by the Republic of Slovenia. Its annual turnover is 20.1 billion ALL, equivalent to 0.95% of the GDP.

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Albchrome holds a concession agreement for chrome extraction and processing, and according to the Register of Beneficial Owners declared on 15.03.2022, it appears to be owned by an individual of Turkish nationality. The company achieves an annual turnover of 18.7 billion ALL, equivalent to 0.9% of the GDP and 3.4% of the value of total payments from the State Treasury 2022.

The concessionaire company for the construction of the Devoll Hydropower Plant on the Devoll River ranks fifth among foreign-owned companies, with an annual turnover of 17.7 billion ALL. Devoll Hydropower is owned by the Dutch company Statkraft Markets B.V. and only the General Director of the company is identified in the Register of Beneficial Owners declared on 02.03.2021.

The ranking continues with Vodafone Albania the mobile telecommunications operator, with an annual turnover of 15.9 billion ALL, accounting for 0.75% of the GDP. The owner is the Dutch company Vodafone Europe B.V. The company’s annual turnover represents 1.3% of the turnover of the top 100 companies.

Philip Morris Albania, engaged in the tobacco market and related products, is owned directly by Philip Morris Switzerland Sàrl. With an annual turnover of 13.6 billion ALL, it accounts for 0.64% of the GDP and 5.45% of the total turnover of foreign-owned companies among the top 100 companies based on annual turnover.

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

In eighth place, there’s Raiffeisen Bank, an Austrian bank, with an annual turnover of 13.1 billion ALL.

Antea Cement engaged in the production of construction materials, has generated revenues of 12.1 billion ALL for 2022. The company is owned by an entity registered in Cyprus.

Albametal, ranked among the top 10 in the list of foreign-owned companies, has an annual turnover of 11.5 billion ALL and is owned by a Serbian company. However, in the Register of Beneficial Owners declared on 02.03.2021, the ultimate owner of the company is a Turkish citizen. The annual turnover accounts for 0.54% of the GDP and 2.1% of the State Treasury Transactions 2022.

Note: State Treasury Transactions 2022 represent the total value of payments executed by all Budgetary Institutions from the State Treasury for the year 2022.
Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Kurum Interantional, which was previously perceived as a foreign investment in Albania due to its ownership by Turkish citizens Selin and Melis Kurum, transformed into an Albanian company in December 2022 through the transfer of shares in favor of Hatixhe Kurum, who has obtained and presented Albanian citizenship in the National Business Center. Kurum International ranks fourth in terms of revenues in 2022, amounting to 46.2 billion ALL, equivalent to 3.7% of the total of the top 100 companies and 2.2% of the GDP. The company’s portfolio includes privatized hydropower assets, Ulëz-Shkopet, and Bistrica 1 & Bistrica 2, as well as two concessionary projects.

Businesses with mixed ownership, in terms of the highest turnover, are realized by companies originating from Hungary, totaling 16 billion ALL (1.3% of the total of 100 companies), followed by companies from Turkey, the Netherlands, and Italy, accounting for 1.25%, 1.15%, and 1.15% of the total revenues, respectively.

Among companies with mixed ownership, a company with controlling interest (50+1 of shares/shares) owned directly by foreign individuals or entities, the concessionary company Ayen As Energy marks the highest annual turnover. The company had a turnover of 10.5 billion ALL for the year 2022, approximately 0.84% of the total turnover of 100 big companies. It is directly owned by a Turkish company for 90% of the shares, 9% of the shares are owned by an Albanian company, and 1% is owned by an individual Turkish shareholder.

One Albania, with a control package in Bulgaria (94.12% of the shares), reports an annual turnover of 9.6 billion ALL. 2.15% of the shares are owned by a Hungarian company, and 3.73% are owned locally. The company’s annual turnover represents 0.77% of the total turnover of the top 100 big companies and accounts for 11.3% of the total annual turnover generated by companies with mixed ownership.

Rossmann-Lala has a direct ownership of 75% by a German company and 25% by an Albanian company. The company declared an annual turnover of 5.4 billion ALL for the year 2022, which represents 0.43% of the total turnover generated by the top 100 big companies.

Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

With an annual turnover of around 5.37 billion ALL in 2022, Sigal Uniqa Group Austria comes next. 86.93% of the share package is owned by a company registered in Austria. The company’s annual turnover accounts for 0.43% of the total turnover for the year 2022 among the top 100 revenue-generating companies.

Coca-Cola Bottling Albania has most of its controlling package in Italy (74.69% of its shares), 22.65% is owned by a commercial company registered in the National Business Centre. The company had an annual turnover of 5.3 billion ALL in 2022, which represents 0.4% of the total turnover of the top 100 big companies.

The last on the list among companies with mixed ownership and foreign controlling package is Everest Oil, with an annual turnover of 4.6 billion ALL in 2022. The majority owner holds 70.43% of the shares, Petra S.r.l, a company registered in the commercial registry of Italy. 29.57% of the shares are owned by Albanian individuals. The company’s annual turnover in 2022 (4.6 billion ALL) represents 0.37% of the total turnover of the top 100 big companies.

Table: Countries of Origin, Mixed-Ownership Companies
Source: Open Corporates Albania
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania

Each one of these companies has a profile created in the Open Corporates Albania, established by AIS for well-structured and easily accessible information for every business operating in the country.

Download excel: Companies with Foreign Ownership in the List of the 100 Largest Companies by Revenue in 2022
Download excel: Foreign-Owned Companies by countries of origin
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Contributed by: Pajtim Nikolli
Translated by: Etleva Pushi