AAG management board member Andrej Čufer told siol.net news portal on Tuesday that the NGO would first send a list of demands to "all relevant institutions". The NGO has not explained what the demands are.

This development comes less than a week after the AAG management board decided in a four-to-six vote to challenge the approval issued by the Slovenian Environment Agency.

It has since transpired that Čufer contacted Magna Steyr before the relevant vote on Thursday. The move was perceived as risk of corruption by Magna, business paper Finance has reported.

Čufer, a fire protection expert, told the paper that he simply wanted to inform the company of appropriate fire safety measures. Later in the day, he voted in favour of challenging the approval.

The NGO has until 12 September to file the complaint. All but one other NGO have decided they would not challenge the approval.

The only other NGO, E-Forum, is willing to back down if the Environment Agency amends the approval to include additional water and fire safety requirements.

But E-Forum may no longer be a party in the procedure, as the NGO has failed to submit an annual report to the government, which means it no longer acts in the public interest.

However, if a valid complaint is to be lodged, Magna Steyr is likely to pull out of Slovenia, the government has said several times. The group has already secured preliminary construction permits for a paint shop in Hungary.