Schaeffler, the German producer of bearings that already operates two plants in Slovakia, is looking for a place for its new factory. Slovakia is among five eastern European countries on its shortlist. The remaining candidate countries are Poland, Hungary, Romania and Serbia. “The decision is to be made at the end of this year or early next year,” said Jaroslav Patka, director of Schaeffler Slovensko in an interview with the Trend economic weekly, adding that Slovakia has a good chance of winning the investment. Representatives of the German car parts producer are now negotiating with representatives of the individual countries while a meeting with Slovaks has just been planned, according to Patka. The new plant would add about 4,000 employees to the 10,000 the firm already employs in its two factories in in Skalica and Kysucké Nové Mesto. After the Slovak arm of the German carmaker Volkswagen and the US steelmaker USSK in Košice, Schaeffler is the third biggest private employer in Slovakia. Apart from this the company has a financial service centre in Žilina , whose launch two years ago supported the state by an investment stimulus .