Center Party donations dry up in Q3 as Parempoolsed receive over €89,000
Donations for the Center Party dried up considerably in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, falling from €11,103 in Q2 to just €3,655 this time round. The SDE received just over €70,000 in donations in Q3, while non-parliamentary party Parempoolsed received as much as €89,075.
The Social Democratic Party (SDE) received €70,694 in donations during the third quarter (Q3 2024), of which €20,000 came from entrepreneur Margus Vanaselja.
The other major donations to the SDE came from party members themselves. Tanel Kiik donated €4,860, Priit Lomp €4,810 and Riina Sikkut €4,564.
Party leader Lauri Läänemets donated €1,800 in Q3, with the party receiving donations from 84 people in total.
The SDE also received €114,219 in state support during the third quarter and collected €5,696 in party membership fees.
In total, the SDE's income was €190,609 and its expenditure €95,808, leaving an overall positive result for the quarter of +€94,802.
Center Party's donations dried up
In the third quarter, the Center Party received financial donations from 24 people, totaling €3,655.
The biggest individual donations – €2,000, came from party member Mihkel Undrest. Overall, Center received considerably less in donations in Q3 than during the previous two quarters. In the first quarter of the year, the party received €15,995, while in Q2 it took in €11,103.
The main source of income for the Center Party in Q3 was, once again, state support, which amounted to €203,055.
The party also collected €3,279 in fees from its 12,239 members. Membership fees were paid by 101 people in the third quarter, with many paying somewhere between one and five euros.
The income from the party's assets was just €2.
The Center Party's total income in the third quarter was €209,991 and its expenditure €124,367.
Entrepreneurs make sizeable donations to Reform Party
Entrepreneurs Armin Karu and Margus Vanaselja donated €25,000 and €20,000 respectively to the Reform Party in the third quarter.
In total, the prime minister's party received €74,359 in donations in the third quarter, well over half of which came from the two entrepreneurs. A total of 104 people donated funds to Reform.
Sten Tamkivi (€6,000), Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski (€4,500), Siim Kallas (€3,000), Eero Merilind (€3,000) and Viljar Jaamu (€2,524) also made larger donations to the party.
Estonian Prime Minister and Reform Party Chair Kristen Michal gave €500, while his predecessor Kaja Kallas contributed €200.
In the third quarter, the Reform Party received €469,566 in state support, €465,57 in membership fees and €58 in income from party assets.
Membership fees were paid by 193 Reform Party members in Q3. According to the Estonian Business Register, the party had a total of 9,588 members as of October 10, meaning around two percent paid fees.
Timber manufacturer Kirjanen donates €30,000 to Parempoolsed
Entrepreneur Raul Kirjanen gave €30,000 to the non-parliamentary party Parempoolsed in the third quarter, according to data from the Committee for the Supervision of the Funding of Political Parties (SFPC).
This year,so far, timber manufacturer Kirjanen has given the party a total of €90,000. Kirjanen also contributed €200,000 to Parempoolsed's coffers n 2023, the year the most recent Riigikogu elections took place.
Parempoolsed received €89,075 in financial donations in the third quarter, in addition to state support amounting to €7,500.
Jaan Pillesaar (€12,000), Kaspar Prik (€10,000), Heldur Meerits (€7,500) and Almar Proos (€6,000) also made larger donations to the party
Parampoolsed party leader Lavly Perling donated €620.
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Editor: Urmet Kook, Michael Cole