Hungarian oil and gas company MOL is one of only five central and eastern European firms on the annual "A-list" of 400 large corporations compiled by business publication Forbes.

The list encompasses "the finest large corporations in the world," measuring the ability of a company to expand its sales and income, based on five-year sales, profit and return on capital, as well as recent stock market performance and analysts' earnings estimates.

Russian energy firms Lukoil, Yukos, Surgutneftegas and Sibneft-Siberian Oil make up the four other CEE companies on the list. Based on sales revenues, MOL is the 274th largest firm on the list, with annual sales of $5.2 billion.

(NewsBase 18.iv.03)