March 2 (SeeNews) - Canada-based automotive manufacturer Magna International plans to relocate the production activities of its Slovenian paint factory in the municipality of Hoce-Slivnica to Austria's Graz, Slovenian economy minister Matjaz Han said.
Magna International intends to set up a support and development centre for its other locations in Hoce-Slivnica, Han said, as seen in a video file posted on the YouTube channel of Slovenian news agency STA on Wednesday.
Slovenia's government will demand from Magna to return a total of 18.5 million euro ($19.7 million) of state aid as it never fulfilled its intention to employ 400 people in the first phase of the development of the factory and then an additional 1,000 people, Han said.
Magna is expected to keep 50 employees in Hoce-Slivnica and the remaining 108 workers will be offered employment at the Graz factory, he added.
The company opened the Hoce-Slivnica factory in July 2019 after investing 146.4 million euro in the project. Back in October 2017, Magna said that the project will complement production at the Magna Steyr plant in Graz, situated some 75 km from Hoce-Slivnica, which was overloaded.
Production at Magna's factory in Hoce-Slivnica has been suspended on several occasions since the beginning of 2020 due to interrupted supply chains.
($ = 0.9375 euro)