Press Releases

Budapest, July 1, 2002

The business magazine Euromoney gave Matáv the 2002 “Award for Good Corporate Governance”. Chairman and CEO Elek Straub received the award from the Director of Publishing Martin Th. Born at Matáv’s Headquarters.

This year's Euromoney survey covered 215 companies, including the biggest listed firms of the emerging markets of the world. The survey examined and evaluated primarily the following aspects of corporate governance: ownership transparency, financial transparency, Board of Directors activities and alignment of management and shareholder interests.

The award won by Matáv is especially important because equity investors are increasingly basing investment decisions on companies' records on corporate governance as the quality of corporate governance has a decisive influence on shareholder value. Euromoney’s regular surveys and the corporate rankings based on them offer invaluable guidance for investors in the judgement of corporate governance, particularly with regard to emerging markets. The details of the latest ranking are published in Euromoney’s July 2002 edition. This is the first time for Matáv to top the list of companies with good corporate governance practice.

Euromoney, a leading international business magazine published in London, is a most authoritative source of information on international banking and capital markets. The annual surveys conducted by Euromoney on various topics reveal how companies measure up against global economic competition. The Euromoney awards given to companies that offer outstanding performance in various areas are considered high-profile recognitions in the international business world.

In the past years, Matáv has received numerous professional and social awards. The Financial Times Global Telecommunication Award as well as the Innovation Awards of the Ministry of Communications are among the most outstanding of these. Matáv was the Best Stock Market Issuer of the Budapest Stock Exchange for several years, and it was honored also as Corporate Donor of the Year in 1998. In 1999 Matáv was awarded as the Central European Corporate of the Decade and in 2002 it was a winner of Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award.