While the municipal council had no trouble amending the local zoning plan for the 94 hectares of land near Maribor airport, the local authorities are a little less efficient in negotiations with the owners of the farmland that will be used for Magna's plant.

While 18 owners have already agreed to selling their plots, 13 have not reached a final decision whether they will sell the land or demand substitute plots.

Landowners and authorities have around a month to come to final agreements, because the investor wants to speed up the process to start construction already in the summer.

When Magna applies and is granted strategic investment status under a special law that parliament passed in December, the landowners may even be disowned if a different solution cannot be reached.

Magna, which confirmed the investment in January, has already started recruiting for its paint shop, which is to become operational in autumn 2018 as the first stage of the investment and will employ 400 people.