Archaeological excavations have already been concluded at the 3.25 hectare location of the planned plant, worth an estimated EUR 30m-40m, and the next step is obtaining a building permit.

Excavations were performed before the application for a building permit was submitted because the Cultural Heritage Protection Institute had labelled the location as a potential archaeological site.

Hisense thus decided to carry out all the activities needed to obtain the required cultural heritage protection consent, Gorenje said in a press release on Friday.

This way the Chinese owner wanted to avoid possible delays caused by subsequent mandatory excavations, the company added.

The initial capacity of the new plant is expected to be a million TV sets a year, and is expected to employ between 300 and 400 people.

Asked about potential government incentives for the investment, Gorenje said it was too early to talk about that, but added that negotiations with the Economy Ministry were already under way.

The company said it would present more details about the plant and its approximate cost once the entire documentation was obtained.

One of the largest Slovenian exporters is being restructured from a joint-stock into a limited liability company. It was delisted from the Ljubljana Stock Exchange in early November last year.