"A meeting was held in a very positive atmosphere today between representatives of [state assets custodians] BAMC and SSH and Cimos's clients," BAMC, the Slovenian bad bank, wrote today after it become clear a few days ago that the Italian fund Palladio Finanziaria would not acquire the indebted company.

"We also talked about the current situation and alternative possibilities to keep Cimos going. The business partners confirmed they are ready to continue their cooperation with Cimos," the press release says.

BAMC did not disclose which partners attended the meeting, but unofficially the plan was to talk with representatives of BMW, Audi, Ford HTT, Borg Warner and Bosch Mahle.

However, BMW joined Slovenian Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek in rejecting reports it had cancelled its orders with Cimos, although it added for the STA that it was following developments closely.

The company told public broadcaster RTV Slovenija that the stability of the Koper-based company was important for long-term cooperation and that it had no intention of cutting or cancelling its orders.

Similarly, Audi told the broadcaster that it had been working well with Cimos for years.

The German companies are reportedly very happy with their cooperation with Cimos in the last three years and have been assured that the situation at the company would be resolved in a month or two.

According to RTV Slovenija,meeting was also attended by Slovenian Ambassador to Germany Marta Kos Marko. She said that two scenarios had been presented at the meeting, one envisaging Cimos's sale to the Italian fund and the other one salvaging the company in case the sale fell through.

Minister Počivalšek announced that BAMC would restructure Cimos in line with the private investor principle, with the state entering the company for a limited period of three to five years.

He also said BAMC would prepare its plan of action shortly and look into the possibilities of merging with companies from the same branch.

The minister added Croatia, where over 1,000 of Cimos's 4,000-plus jobs are located, would also be involved in the salvaging of the company.