The WELT editorial team took a look at four dividend pearls from Eastern Europe. Not "gambling houses", but companies that make real profits, have solid balance sheets, a clear business model, are often market leaders and can be traded as normal in Germany.

$KRKG (+0 %)
Krka from Slovenia

Pharma with growth without debt. The company has an extremely solid balance sheet and is debt-free. This is an absolute rarity in the pharmaceutical sector. The Slovenians produce generics - in other words, medicines that are always needed. And best of all: since Krka started paying dividends in 2015, they have been able to increase them every year. The current yield is a good five to six percent. One small drawback is that the withholding tax in the country is 25 percent and ten percentage points of this cannot be offset directly.

A little fun fact: anyone who buys Krka shares also becomes a hotel owner. This is because the company also owns one of Slovenia's largest spa and wellness operators, Terme Krka.

$PZU (-0,39 %)
PZU from Poland

The group is the "Alliance of the East", so to speak, and with real market power! PZU is the largest insurer in the whole of Central and Eastern Europe.

The company also owns large stakes in banks, including a 20 percent stake in Bank Pekao. The exciting thing here is the valuation: with a price/earnings ratio (P/E) of 10, the company is valued more favorably than its Western competitors, but is growing in line with the dynamic Polish economy. It grew by more than three percent in real terms last year.

PZU is a real cash machine for income investors. The dividend yield is often between seven and eight percent. This makes the share a heavyweight for the portfolio and not a small second-tier stock. Withholding tax is levied at 19 percent, of which four percent can be reclaimed.

$IGN1L (-4,22 %)
Ignitis Group from Lithuania

The energy supplier from the Baltic States is building large-scale wind farms in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic region is in the process of completely detaching itself from Russia in terms of energy, and Ignitis is the key driver. It is a mix of secure grid operator and aggressive green tech growth.

The figures are right here too: The dividend yield is around six to seven percent and the state is on board as an anchor shareholder.

$SNP (-4,47 %)
OMV Petrom from Romania

OMV Petrom is the largest energy company in south-eastern Europe. The good thing for investors is that Petrom is majority-owned by the Austrian OMV $OMV (-2,34 %) - so you have Western management, but Romanian growth opportunities.

Moreover, OMV Petrom is not just a petrol station. The group is sitting on a huge treasure. The project is called "Neptun Deep" and is a gigantic gas field in the Black Sea, which the company is now developing. This will make Romania the largest gas producer in the EU. That is energy security for the whole of Europe.

The figures are also pretty good. OMV Petrom is flush with cash and often pays a special dividend in addition to the normal dividend. In good years, investors can therefore quickly achieve a return of eight to ten percent.

Source text (excerpt), WELT 14.01.2026

Hello dear Getquin Community,

today I would like to introduce you to the exciting topic frontier markets which is currently on everyone's lips. Anyone who follows the flow of money will quickly realize that there is no way around these markets in the future. After thorough research, I would like to introduce you to 10 shares and 5 ETFs with enormous potential.

Significance

Frontier markets are the bridge between emerging and industrialized countries. The MSCI Frontier Markets Index comprises 233 companies from 28 countries and covers around 85 % of the freely tradable market capitalization. They are still at the beginning of their capital market development, but this is precisely where the appeal lies.

Development and potential

In 2024, the index achieved a return of just under 10 % in USD. Individual companies such as Kaspi.kz, OMV Petrom and Vinhomes are already generating billions in profits and proving that frontier markets are no longer an exotic fringe phenomenon, but platforms for sustainable growth. For investors, this opens up opportunities for uncorrelated returns and the chance to enter future emerging markets at an early stage.

Sectors and regions

The strongest segments are Banks & Fintechs (Kaspi.kz, Attijariwafa, Banca Transilvania), Commodities & Energy (Kazatomprom, OMV Petrom), Real Estate (Vinhomes) and Industrials & Pharmaceuticals (Hoa Phat, KRKA). Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Romania and Morocco dominate regionally, while Africa offers diversification through broadly diversified indices.

The largest listed players

$KSPI (-1,09 %) Kaspi.kz (Kazakhstan, Fintech & E-Commerce)

$SNP (-4,47 %) OMV Petrom (Romania, energy)

$VHM Vinhomes (Vietnam, real estate)

$ATW Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco, banking)

$TLV Banca Transilvania (Romania, Banking)

$KAP (-4,6 %) Kazatomprom (Kazakhstan, uranium production)

$KRKG (+0 %) KRKA (Slovenia, pharmaceuticals)

$HPG Hoa Phat Group (Vietnam, steel/industry)

$NLB (+0 %) Nova Ljubljanska Banka - NLB (Slovenia, banking)

+ High-growth mid caps from Vietnam and Africa

Top 5 frontier ETFs

$XFVT (-0,58 %) Xtrackers FTSE Vietnam Swap ETF (WKN: DBX1AG)

$DX2Z (-1,57 %) Xtrackers S&P Select Frontier Swap ETF (WKN: DBX1A9)

$XMKA (-1,14 %) MSCI EFM Africa Top 50 Capped Swap ETF (WKN: DBX0HX)

$FM iShares MSCI Frontier and Select EM ETF (Ticker: FM, US)

$EMFM Global X MSCI Next Emerging & Frontier ETF (Ticker: EMFM, US)

Takeaway

Frontier markets are volatile, but their combination of growth, diversification and high margins makes them a strategic building block for any forward-looking portfolio. However, many shares and ETFs are difficult to access in Germany. The key question: who will recognize the potential of these markets early enough and position themselves before they are discovered by the mainstream?

Source: MSCI Frontier Markets Index Factsheet, company reports, podcast All on equities (13.08.), image material: Bondguide.de