Jernej Čokl, the boss of Impol, said the company would lease TLM facilities pending approval at a meeting of the board of creditors on 9 March. In the first phase 250 workers will be hired, Čokl was quoted as saying by Croatian press agency Hina.

Once production is at full capacity, the Šibenik plant would produce 100,000 tonnes of aluminium per year and employ a workforce of 300-400. Investments of EUR 70m are planned over the next five years.

Čokl's statement came after a meeting with the representatives of the Croatian State Agency for Deposit Insurance and Bank Resolution, Economy Minister Tomislav Panenić, chair of the parliamentary economy committee Ivan Domagoj Milošević and Šibenik-Knin Mayor Goran Pauk.

Pauk said, according to Croatian media, that the lease was the fastest way to kick-start production at the Šibenik plant, once the biggest industrial company in the region and a major employer.

The next step for Impol will be to buy the claims of the bank Jadranska banka worth about EUR 32.5m. The move would make Impol the biggest creditor and hence give it the majority on the board of creditors.

Impol told the STA yesterday that the acquisition would affirm the company's position in the market of rolled aluminium products.

The company's rolling mill at its headquarters in Slovenska Bistrica is half a century old and Impol plans to shut it down this year to relocate the production to the more modern rolling mill in Šibenik.

Impol posted revenue of EUR 545m for 2015 and a pre-tax profit of EUR 25m. In October it issued a EUR 50m bond to finance new investments.