The contracts were signed today by representatives of the Economy Ministry and the two companies, which also plan to hire additional staff.
Roman Ferenčak of Ocean Orchids, a leading grower of orchids in Central and South-Eastern Europe, said the new logistic centre would help them meet the needs of buyers and retailers from the entire Europe.
The company is foremost counting on cooperation with Swedish furniture giant IKEA. The talks with IKEA are in the final phase, Ferenčak said today.
The new logistics centre, covering 35 square metres, will be constructed adjacent to the existing production facilities, and is expected to employ around 40 new workers when operating at full capacity.
Currently the company employs 37 people and exports 75% of its products to a dozen countries.
The other company to be supported by the state, the export-oriented Medicop, plans to increase its number of staff from 77 to more than 100 as a result of the EUR 6.6m investment, for which the state will chip in EUR 900,000.
CEO Peter Podlunšek said the investment would enable the company to develop and increase production as well as value added. He expects the facility to be built by May next year.
"Investments as these contribute to Slovenia recording a 12% growth in investment activities and a 13% exports growth last year and I believe the trend will continue this year. All this directly contributes to the economic growth," said Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek.
The state funding of the two projects is part of the government development programme for 2018-2020, which was endorsed on 30 May.
On 31 May, contracts were signed with Kovis Livarna, part of the Brežice-based supplier of braking systems for leading global manufacturers of trains Kovis, on EUR 2m in state funding for modernisation of the foundry in Štore (NE) worth EUR 24.7m, and with the Moravče-based quartz sand, core and casting aids manufacturer Termit, which got a EUR 600,000 subsidy for a EUR 3.4m new production facility.
The Kovis investment is to create 85 jobs by 2020; five this year and 40 in each of the coming two years, while the new core-making Termit facility, to be built in Zagorje in central Slovenia, is expected to create 33 jobs until 2021, most of them next year.
