(2) By letter dated 9 April 2014, the Commission informed Slovenia that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 108(2) of the Treaty in respect of the aid (‘the opening decision’). Slovenia provided comments on that decision by letter dated 10 June 2014. Slovenia provided additional information by letters dated 24 September 2014 and 3 October 2014. The Commission met the Slovenian authorities on 4 November 2014. The Commission requested additional information by letter dated 18 December 2014, to which Slovenia replied on 30 January 2015.
(3) The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the
Official Journal of the European Union
(6). The Commission called on interested parties to submit their comments.
(4) The Commission received comments from one interested party. It forwarded them to Slovenia, which was given the opportunity to react. Slovenia has not replied to the comments of the interested party.
(5) By letter dated 27 January 2015, Slovenia waived its right under Article 3 of Regulation No 1/1958(7) to have this Decision adopted in Slovenian and agreed that the authentic language of this Decision should be English.
2.
DESCRIPTION
2.1. BENEFICIARY
(6) Cimos is a Slovenian-based manufacturer of automotive components, one of the largest industrial companies in Slovenia and a major employer. It has recently reported annual sales of over EUR 400 million and employed 6 855 people(8), of which over 2 500 in Slovenia.
(7) Apart from its core business, the Company was also active in other sectors through its Machine Building and Tooling (‘Machine’) Division and its Energy and Agricultural Machinery (‘Agriculture’) Division. It has recently sold them or integrated them into the Automotive Division, which is now the Company's only business.
(8) Slovenia estimates that Cimos's share in the European market is below 15 % for most product families, with the exception of central housings and nozzle rings turbo systems where it is estimated at 17 % and 21 %, respectively. Cimos's main competitors include Edscha and FlexNGate, Le Bélier, Streit and NWS.
(9) As of 31 August 2014, Cimos consisted of a parent company, Cimos d.d., and 21 subsidiaries with operations in Slovenia, Croatia, France, Germany, Serbia, Bosnia and Russia. The organisational structure of Cimos is shown in the figure below.
The organisational structure of Cimos
[Bild bitte in Originalquelle ansehen]
(10) The Slovenian State holds indirectly — through State-controlled companies or municipalities — over 39 % shares of Cimos. The ownership structure and control, as of 31 August 2014, was as follows:
Table 1
Ownership structure of Cimos
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