In expectation of political parties’ annual financial reports

Transparency – Serbia reminds the public that deadline for submitting political parties’ annual reports expires today. Obligation to deliver these reports to the Anticorruption Agency lies on 91 registered political party, coalitions and civil groups that won seats in municipality parliaments. We emphasize that none submitting of reports is a misdemeanour with prescribed fine and denying of budget allocations in following year.

Special significance of these reports reflects in providing transparency to election campaign expenses that are still under control process. Namely, for nearly half the campaign expenses in May elections source of financing remained unknown, either because expenses were financed from the credits or because they remained unpaid. We expect that the public will be presented with information whether these expenses were paid in the meantime and from what sources.

Transparency – Serbia considers that Anticorruption Agency and State Audit Institution should verify data from annual financial reports, because certain data from previous reports, that remained unverified, create doubt in their credibility[1]. We remind that, according to preliminary findings of Transparency Serbia from July 2012, almost half of registered political parties haven’t delivered timely annual financial reports for 2011, that total reported expenditures were around 900 million RSD and that 70% of reported expenses were paid from the budget allocation[2]. Parties are obligated to deliver with their financial reports, list of persons that donated more than one average monthly salary in the Republic (around 40.000 RSD). Since parties had the obligation to publish data on such donors in 8 days deadline from receiving the donation on their web page, data from annual financial reports will provide answer on which parties fulfilled this obligation. Transparency – Serbia recently published data on which political party published donors’ names on their web presentations[3].

Transparency – Serbia

15 April 2013