The party had up to now conducted a donation drive from members to help pay the fine, relating to the so-called Porto Franco case, but is now taking out the loan too.

Financial issues are likely to affect the party's campaigning abilities in this autumn's local elections, and the party's MEP and deputy chair, Yana Toom, said it will not be holding an outdoor advertising drive.

"We do not intend to win the election by plastering every fence with pictures of our candidates," she said.

Party leader Mihhail Kõlvart also said that the local elections campaign will be conducted with the help of party members and supporters.

The current loan has been taken out with Estonian bank LHV Pank and is to be repaid by 2027, Kõlvart told ERR's Russian-language portal, and 12 party members are guarantors.

"Since the bank required collateral, 12 party members guaranteed it with their own assets," Kõlvart said.

Center Party secretary general Anneli Ott said these group included both board members and other party members.

The Supreme Court in February upheld a decision by the second-tier Tallinn Circuit Court from March last year, in which the Center Party, its former secretary general Mihhail Korb, and businessman Hillar Teder were found guilty of influence peddling. The party was initially fined €750,000, with the unpaid portion from a previous ruling bringing the total fine to one million euros.

Center's initial response was to announce a donation drive from party members, as it had done when paying a previous million-euro fine back in 2021.

Center collected €85,540 in the first quarter of this year (Q1 2025), mostly from party members and double the sum taken in the entire previous year. In that same quarter, the party collected €6,291 in membership fees, paid by just under 200 members, and was granted €192,891 in state support, bringing Center's Q1 2025 total revenue to €284,764. However, since its reported expenses were €235,575 euros (€133,459 of this operational costs), the party was in the black to the tune of €49,189 for the quarter.

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