April 1 (SeeNews) - The Slovenian paint factory of Canada-based automotive parts supplier Magna International will remain closed for the time being because of the coronavirus outbreak, despite earlier plans to restart production in the beginning of April, local media reported on Wednesday.
The paint shop, located in Slovenia's northeastern Hoce–Slivnica municipality, suspended production two weeks ago in the wake of the coronavirus crisis in the country.
The workers will remain at home until further notice, company officials were quoted as telling state news agency STA.
Magna opened the paint factory in Hoce-Slivnica in July 2019, following a total investment of some 150 million euro ($164 million).
Back then, the Slovenian government said the construction of the factory is the largest greenfield investment in Slovenia's history, providing Magna with incentives worth 18.6 million euro for the project.
The government has said that the paint shop is expected to employ some 400 more people in the first three years, while the final number of employees reaching at least 1,000 in the coming ten years.
Back in October 2017, Magna said it was starting to build the $100 million paint shop, explaining that the project will complement production at Magna Steyr in Austria's Graz, situated some 75 km from Hoce-Slivnica, which was overloaded.
Magna International runs some 346 manufacturing operations and 94 product development, engineering and sales centres in 27 countries. In Serbia, it operates Magna Seating, which makes seating systems for Renault, Ford and Smart.
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