The cheaper electricity will allow Talum to keep operating, chairman Marko Drobnič said in a press release on Wednesday, adding that prices on the domestic market were "unreasonably high".

Talum is among the biggest single electricity consumers in Slovenia and problems paying bills in the past have led to it being in 100% ownership of grid operator Eles. It expects to save EUR 7m over three years under the deal.

The company would not disclose who the provider is, but the daily Dnevnik has reported that it signed the deal with Austrian utility Verbund and the Anglo-Serbian Energy Financing Team (ETF), at a price of EUR 47 per MWh, EUR 7 less than what it is paying now.