CEO Andrej Božič told the press the company, which he said was firm, stable and profitable now, had already started streamlining operations in 2013. It stepped the process up last year as it focused on securing new direct clients abroad and improving its product portfolio.

Steklarna Hrastnik invested a record EUR 9.9m in upgrading production last year and entered the markets of China, Jordan, India and Scandinavia.

"We are getting increasingly recognised and seen in the world as a new alternative in the most prestigious segment of glass packaging," Božič said, adding the company was also gearing up to enter the perfume bottles market.

Added value per employee increased to almost EUR 34,000 last year and the company spent almost EUR 400,000 on employee training, which is 22-times more than in 2009.