Vattenfall is a Swedish-owned international electricity and heat supplier. In recent years, it has become the fourth-largest generator of electricity and the largest producer of heat in Europe Vattenfall is a public limited company, shares of which are owned by the Swedish government.

The securities markets in central and eastern Europe are small: the capitalisation in domestic shares in the 10 acceding countries represents barely 4 per cent of the capitalisation in Euronext. The capitalisation of these markets as share of the gross domestic product is still weak. However,...