The Austrian subsidiary of the Canadian automotive giant Magna will now be able to build the planned facility in the municipality of Hoče-Slivnica near the city of Maribor, north-east.

Before obtaining the building permit, Magna Steyr managed to obtain environmental clearance from the Environment Agency despite some serious reservations by environmentalists, which, however, the investor was willing to take into account.

The environment permit was a key prerequisite to get the building permit.

Meanwhile, preparatory works for the plant are already under way, with the Slovenian State Forests company clearing the four-hectare area of Rogoški gozd woods and archaeologists doing excavation works on the site of the future plant.

Construction works for the first phase of the project are expected to be completed by the end of October 2019, with Murska Sobota-based builder Pomgrad announced as the main contractor.

The value of the first stage of the project, which should create slightly more than 400 jobs, is estimated at EUR 146.4m.

In March, the government promised to chip in 18.61m and a contract on the incentive is expected to be signed on 17 October.

Another 1,500 jobs are expected in the second phase, which means that the criterion of creating at least 1,000 jobs would be met - a condition for incentives for strategic investments.

The combined value of the first two phases is estimated at over EUR 450m, with two more phases envisaged provided there is enough demand on the market.

The goal is to set up a comprehensive auto facility in the vicinity of Maribor airport that would supplement Magna Steyr's location near Graz.