"We have currently collected a little over €80,000 through donations. These are not only from party members but likely also from voters. Donations are trickling in daily," said Kõlvart.

The first installment of €120,000 has been paid, and the next payment is due this month, he said. Going forward, the party's monthly payment will be approximatelt €73,000. Kõlvart confirmed April's payment has already been secured.

The chairman said the party has a plan in place to pay the fine and is considering taking out a loan.

"We have a plan for how to manage it, we do have the money; the bigger question is how to gather funds to run an election campaign," he said.

Kõlvart said the current campaign budget is close to zero.

ERR asked if cutting campaign costs would mean reducing or even completely foregoing print and television advertising.

"If the budget is close to zero, that means our main campaign consists of communicating with people on social media and on the streets. That is not currently reflected in the budget," Kõlvart replied.

"For now, we are operating on the basis that we do not have money for a campaign. Then we willl have to see what we can do about that," he added.

"I believe that, ultimately, election results depend on the choices people make, and I would like to hope that posters and television ads are not the decisive factor. But of course, the campaign matters too. Still, today we have to stick to our priorities. First comes paying off the debt, and if we then have the opportunity, we can start gathering resources for a campaign," said Kõlvart.

At the same time, the chairman acknowledged that work on the election campaign is already underway.

On February 7, the Supreme Court upheld the decision made by the Tallinn Circuit Court in March last year in which the Centre Party, its former secretary-general Mihhail Korb, and businessman Hillar Teder were found guilty of influence peddling.

The circuit court sentenced Teder to one year and five months and Korb to one year and two months of conditional imprisonment. The party was fined €750,000, which was increased by the unpaid portion of an earlier sentence, resulting in a combined fine of € 1 million.

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