The company has already lost two projects worth EUR 10m.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Slovenian-Czech business conference on Monday, Litostroj Power board member Marko Tandler said that while the company cooperates well with commercial banks, there were some problems with getting export guarantees from the SID bank.

He hopes that the situation will improve and Litostroj Power could continue making export deals. "Otherwise we will have to transfer projects to the Czech Republic. Export banks there are interested in such projects."

In the event some projects are relocated to the Czech Republic, a part of production and services will also have to be moved there, Tandler said. "This would be bad for jobs in Slovenia, which neither we nor our owner wants."

Litostroj Power general manager Emil Žižka was also critical of the SID bank, because of which the company had to transfer to the Czech Republic several deals that had already been signed.

"We had to do this to prevent losing projects worth a total of EUR 10m," added Tandler, who is very happy with the new owner, which acquired Litostroj Power last spring from the Koper-based car parts maker Cimos.

He said that the new owner was helping the company expand to new markets and is integrating Litostroj Power's solutions in its hydro power plant projects. The company has already secured EUR 26m in contracts for this year.