The head of the association, Mihael Cigler, said that non-transparent approaching of those in power is possible due to lobbyists' avoidance of being included in the lobbying registry.

He said that regulating the lobbying activity with the act on integrity and prevention of corruption was not the right way to go.

The move stigmatised lobbying and averted lobbyists from registering their activity, Cigler explained.

Consequently, there are very few reports on contacts with lobbyists on the local level, with foreign organisations as part of the privatisation process and with networks of international law and financial firms and other interest groups, he said.

Cigler believes Slovenia should follow the example of the EU, where lobbying activities are not restricted to professional lobbyists but include all interest groups such as companies, NGOs, various associations, trade unions and church organisations.

The Lobbying Association proposes that the lobbying activities be regulated in a special law that would enable the development of the activity as it is developing within the EU institutions.

Secretary General of TI Slovenia Vid Doria agrees that the Slovenian system needs to be overhauled despite the good grades it got in the TI report released today.

The assessed rate of observing the principles of transparency, integrity and equal access is 55% in Slovenia, meaning that the state cannot efficiently prevent illegal influencing on important decisions.

That fact that all other countries fare even worse was labelled "extremely worrying" by Doria.

The transparency of lobbying activities in Slovenia is "extremely low", which TI already highlighted in its December report, he said.

TI Slovenia has therefore already forwarded its recommendations for improvements to the Public Administration Ministry, he said.