Pavlič believes that the pressure on him to leave the management had political background.

The dismissal of Pavlič had been requested by Silvo Berdajs, the head of the works council at SŽ, officially because of the loss of trust.

The news portal siol.net recently reported that Pavlič had written an open letter to director general Dušan Mes and all employees of the company, in which he mentions political background.

"Given all that has been written I cannot get rid of the feeling that the loss of your trust in me as the worker director of SŽ is connected with possible political orders from the outside," Pavlič said.

According to the portal, Pavlič last year resigned from all posts in the opposition Democrats (SDS), but remained a member. Berdajs, also a long-time member, reportedly wants to bring SDS member Nina Avbelj Lekić as the worker director.

Pavlič suspects that with his removal, certain people want to create conditions for "uncontrolled profiting by individuals and groups in subsidiaries of SŽ" and wonders whether Berdajs is among them.

Pavlič did not want to specify any names, but he did mention "what happened in the subsidiary ŽGP, whose director had pleaded guilty to abuse of office in a deal with the prosecution. And then nothing happened."

He was referring to Leon Kostiov, who had been accused of making fictitious deals in the construction of Ljubljana-Koćevje railway. He remained in the company after pleading guilty in January as an advisor.

While the SŽ management never requested that his contract with the company be terminated, Kostiov recently resigned himself.

Pavlič also indirectly admitted that the dispute with Berdajs has been dragging on for some time.

"I have realised that certain individuals and groups have been very persistent and motivated for years for me to be dismissed as a member of the management," he said in the letter.

The proposal for his dismissal was on the agenda of the works council session for this Thursday, but Pavlič announced today that he would take over as the head of Trade Union of Railway Workers.

The new post prevents him from holding the post in the management. He will replace Nada Pavlič, who has resigned as the acting head of the trade union.

The outgoing management member said that she had resigned due to "pressures by certain individuals in the leading trade union structures who support non-transparent acts by the head of the works council".

Berdajs also heads the Trade Union of Train Drivers, which is the most powerful group of employees of the national rail operator.