Hungarian companies lead central Europe on CSR

Hungarian companies are leading the way in corporate sustainability in central Europe, according to a new study by Braun & Partners, a Two Tomorrows’ partner firm. However, companies across the region are failing to communicate effectively on key sustainability issues, the research found.

The findings come from Braun & Partners’ CSR 24/7 rating, which assesses the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of companies based on publicly available information. It covers the top companies by revenue in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

Hungarian telecommunications company Magyar Telekom, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, was ranked first among a 100-strong list of the top 25 companies in each of the four countries. 

Of the seven sectors represented in the top 100 list, telecommunications scored highest. It was followed by financials and then energy and utilities.

In general, companies rated poorly for their communication of their human resources practices and their cooperation with civil society. Of the top 100 companies, 12 had published a CSR report based on international reporting guidelines in the previous two years. Meanwhile, 22 had corporate websites that provided an easy-to-access CSR or sustainability section. 

• Two Tomorrows will shortly be launching its own global rating programme, an evolution of its previous annual survey of global corporate accountability, the Accountability Rating. To learn more, contact Thomas Krick at thomas.krick@twotomorrows.com or on +44 (0)7903 357326.