According to Bobnar, the NBI investigators are enthusiastic and hard-working, and have proven with their work that there are no untouchables.

In the ten years of its existence, the bureau has dealt with 1,100 criminal acts, and has filed 796 criminal complaints to the prosecution in relation to criminal acts which have resulted in illegal gains of a total of EUR 1.048 billion.

Last year, the NBI proposed temporary seizure of assets in several cases, with their total value reaching EUR 115 million. All cases are in the pre-trial phase, so the police have not revealed the details.

The bureau has dealt with the most complicated forms of crime which undermine the financial interests and the monetary and economic systems of the country, as well as the most severe forms of organised crime, Bobnar said.

In recent years, its investigators focused on the prevention of banking crime, corruption in business and healthcare, pharmaceutical industry, energy and education.

Bobnar emphasised financial investigations as one of the strongest weapons, with the NBI investigating corrupt bankers, takeovers of companies and suspicion of corruption in the healthcare system.

"They have proven that no one is untouchable," she said, adding that all criminal police officers, including in police departments, performed their job enthusiastically and professionally.

What makes the NBI special is that, as an operational unit within the Criminal Police Administration, it is somewhat more flexible, which makes it easier to detect and respond to all forms of crime.

The bureau currently employs 58 fully operational investigators, and it wants to expand the number and fill the vacancies made by criminal police officers who left for other units. It needs analysts and computer forensics the most.

The NBI does not employ only criminal police officers, but also other experts such as auditors, bankers and economists who complement the police work very well.

It has been headed since June by Darko Muženič, who formerly served as the head of the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering, and who succeeded Darko Majhenič, who concluded a five-year term at the helm of the NBI.

Bobnar justified the decision to make a change in leadership by saying that Majhenič had exhausted himself in the five years and that the time was for "new energy". She believes that Muženič is an excellent pick.

The police commissioner sees in Majhenič a new wind in the sails of the office. "I'm convinced that the effectiveness of the NBI will further improve in the next ten years."

Investigating white-collar crime and corruption remains the priority for the NBI. "Criminal police officers and the police act proactively. We fear no one, and we withdraw in front of no one," said Bobnar.

She however noted that "neither the police nor the NBI can detect and penalise everything that has been stolen, raked in, appropriated in the last ten years."