Parempoolsed to repay €111,000 owed to firm by year-end
The Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee (ERJK) has initiated proceedings on political party Parempoolsed over money owed for consultancy work conducted ahead of the European Parliament elections earlier this year.
Parempoolsed says it is confident it will be able to repay the sum of €110,700, to a firm called Initiative OÜ, by the end of this year.
Parempoolsed deputy chair Kristjan Vanaselja said the sum is owed to a media agency which provided services to the party in the run-up to June's European Parliament elections.
Parempoolsed and Initiative OÜ have reportedly drawn up an agreed repayment schedule.
Vanaselja said: "The ERJK has sent us an inquiry about two invoices arising from the European Parliament election campaign. We will certainly provide the ERJK with the requested explanations, by the given deadline."
"As is often the case during elections, party expenses tend to end up being somewhat higher [then anticipated], so Parempoolsed will settle all these invoices according to the ERJK's rules, inclusive of interest, and will declare these expenses as election costs."
All political parties are required to provide quarterly financials to the ERJK.
"As of today, we are capable of paying this off by the end of the year," Vanaselja added.
The debt in question does not concern the party's ability to campaign ahead the October 2025 local elections, Vanaselja said, adding that his party actively seeks out supporters and therefore financial support, rather than relying on the state or on donors.
"Looking at the reports from the recent quarters, it is clear that Parempoolsed actively seeks out and finds supporters, even outside of the scope of the state budget, which the other parties rely on for support or funding," he said.
"I am fully confident that next year we will not only be ready to take part in the local elections but also to continue building the party, to be well-prepared for the [2027] Riigikogu elections – we are certainly capable of that, and we have the confidence to achieve it," Vanaselja added.
All political parties which poll above 2 percent at a Riigikogu election are eligible for state support, in proportion to their votes received. Parempoolsed exceeded this threshold at the 2023 Riigikogu election, though did not reach the magic 5-percent of the vote in any electoral district required to win seats in parliament.
In the third quarter of 2024 (Q3 2024), Parempoolsed took in state support of €7,500, and €89,075 in donations, including €30,000 from timber magnate Raul Kirjanen, the party's largest single donor.
For comparison, the Reform Party, the largest party by representation, took in €469,566 in state support in Q3 2024 and €74,359 in donations, according to ERJK data.
Parempoolsed was founded in 2022.
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Editor: Ingrid Landeiro , Mirjam Mäekivi, Andrew Whyte