MPO Kabel, which took over the Koper-based company in late 2015, announced at the time the strengthening of Tomos's position on existing markets, especially in the countries of Benelux and the US.

The US market is considered as having a huge potential, as Tomos has sold as many as 10,000 mopeds across the Atlantic so far.

Tomos, founded in 1954, will also start shipping its scooters to Dutch Caribbean territories of Curacao and Aruba, and is in the process of obtaining permits to ship to Uruguay.

The trademark is also present in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Japan and Spain, as well as in Morocco and Scandinavia.

The company's flagship market have always been the countries of former Yugoslavia, where it has been considered number one moped for postmen due to its reliability.

Based on this reputation, the new owners of Tomos made a contract with Slovenian and Croatian postal operators Pošta Slovenije and Hrvatska pošta. Talks are said to be under way with other postal operators in the region as well.

Tomos also boasts the Slovenian provenance of its mopeds, while most of its competition builds their machines in Asia. More than a third of a Tomos moped is made in Slovenia, another third in Europe, while the moped is assembled in the plant in Koper.

Last year, Tomos made EUR 1.8m in sales revenues and EUR 44,200 in net profit with an average of 16 employees. The owners see Tomos as a success story, but not all is gold.

"If the state and banks knew how to lend and ear to such stories," the company could fare even better, they say.

According to the company, banks are too slow in their reaction to Tomos's needs for cash for operating assets, while the state is hampering Tomos's progress with red tape.