Slovakia has made positive progress in talks with South Korean tyre producer Hankook Tire about a planned €500 million factory, economy minister Pavol Rusko was quoted as saying on Thursday, according to Reuters.

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The Czech news agency CTK reported Rusko as saying he was optimistic about chances to win the contest for the plant despite rising competition from neighbouring countries, the report said.


“I see it positively … I expect negotiations to progress significantly this week. We might know the result on Monday or Tuesday,” CTK reportedly quoted Rusko as saying.


Reuters noted that the minister said earlier this week that Slovakia was very close to securing what would be one of the largest green-field investment projects in the new European Union member’s history.


Sources close to the project have told the news agency that Hankook has chosen Slovakia as a preferred location for the plant, though the firm said it would make a decision only in May.

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