This is a key step towards greater transparency, Marijan Papež, the director of the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ), told the press on Monday.

Greater transparency improves trust, which is crucial in a time of crisis, added Anja Kopač Mrak, the minister of labour, family and social affairs.

The application, which is accessible for users with a personal digital certificate, gives access to data from 1970. Data on paid contributions are available from 2002.

The project required transferring 120 million documents into a new database.

Papež said the information would help shield ZPIZ against allegations that its data are incorrect.

But many will probably use it to check whether their employers are paying contributions.

There have been many cases in recent years of employees discovering their companies, in particular struggling industrial companies, did not pay contributions.

Such cases multiplied since the start of the economic crisis, leading to repeated calls that a system be put in place to secure workers against abuse.