Center Party returns €843,000 illicit donation in full
The Center Party has returned an illicit donation totaling €843,000. Center had been hit with the penalty in respect of campaign work provided for it by an outside supplier around a decade ago, and which had been found to constitute an illegal donation.
Center complied with a precept issued by the Political Parties Supervision Committee (ERJK) and paid the sum in full Thursday, following a period of belt-tightening from party grass-roots level upwards.
Center's chair, Jüri Ratas, said that coming up with such a substantial sum in such a short time had been a major challenge for the party, but the goal had been to implement the ruling on time, and in fact the party paid off the fine ahead of time – the due date was May 13.
Ratas said: "We have made a huge effort to make significant savings on the party's operating costs, reduce staff and marketing costs, and run a smaller local election campaign compared with our competitors.
"Supporters' contributions and donations have also been very helpful. I thank everyone who came through for the party at this moment with their strength, unity and faith in the Center Party," he said.
Ratas said that the payments to the contractor, Midfield OÜ, made in the period 2009-2015, were made in good faith and were in-line with contractual obligations as understood at the time, adding that the subsequent litigation found that some of the services Midfield provided were prohibited.
Center had appealed the ERJK ruling but this was overruled by the Supreme Court on March 1 this year.-
"The court has made its decision and the party respects it. It has been a very difficult dispute for us, but we can now turn a new page on this very protracted and long-standing issue," Ratas added.
Andre Hanimägi, party secretary general, said that more than half the total, or €434,000, had come from members' personal donations.
The party needs to continue to be frugal in its activities, a fact which will affect its electioneering ahead of the 2023 election, Hanimägi added.
The dispute began in 2019, when Midfield itself appealed to the ERJK, saying that it was owed money and that in effect a prohibited donation of €1.27 million had been given to Center.
Center had paid Midfield a total of €2,253,424.98 2009-2016, along with an additional €533,000 resulting from an arbitration decision, but both Midfield and the ERJK calculated that the company should have had greater gross profit margins that in the event it di.
Center said that it had not been a requirement for it to know what the average price was for services rendered or what competitors were offering by way of price, while it is not possible to know these things in advance, the party argued.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
