Igor Akrapovič, the chairman of the Ivančna Gorica-based firm, which has become a synonym for business success in Slovenia in recent years, told the STA that this was a "self-preserving measure". He does not plan to relocate but merely "place the money earned somewhere else".

Commenting on the coalition agreement, which envisages a fee on all transactions to tax havens and the inclusion of capital and rent gains in personal income tax calculations, Akrapovič said things "have been escalating in a negative direction" for some time.

He indicated the company could buy shares or other companies in more stable environments, since "making business is impossible in a country where conditions can be turned on their head practically every year".

The coalition plan was also criticised recently by Ivo Boscarol, the director of Slovenian ultralight plane maker Pipistrel, who claims Austria and Italy will offer much better conditions for business.

"We expected...the government would listen to what we're saying, so that we could share the profit with the workers, to boost motivation and take the profit to those who create it - now it will go to the state budget," Boscarol told public broadcaster TV Slovenija last week.

He added entrepreneurs would opt for what he sees as normal business environments and would never return to Slovenia.