Parties’ third-quarter expenses soar leading up to 2017 local elections
Both the Center Party and the Reform Party spent close to a million euros in the third quarter, about half of which they used to finance their campaigns leading up to this year’s local elections last Sunday.
The Center Party spent €688,300 on its political activities from June to September. €512,000 alone were spent on advertising.
The party spent €251,000 on outdoor advertising and €121,000 on TV ads. The remaining €140,000 were spent on digital advertising as well as on print media ads and leaflets.
The amount spent on TV advertising could be even more, as there is a two-week gap between the end of the third quarter and election day, ERR’s Estonian news portal reported on Thursday.
The Reform Party’s expenses were roughly similar. They spent €460,000 on advertising in the third quarter, of which €234,000 on outdoor advertising.
Inferring from current data the party spent just €34,000 on TV ads in the third quarter, though the same two-week gap will most likely mean that this sum will multiply once the financial data for October is available.
Of the remaining €190,000 the party spent €124,000 on print material, the rest went out for print media ads and digital advertising.
The other parties had far less money at their disposal. The expenses of the Social Democrats (SDE) and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL) counted together still don’t match what just one of the two large parties spent.
SDE spent €248,000, €90,000 of which on outdoor advertising and €121,000 on print materials. IRL spent €168,000, of which €18,000 on outdoor advertising and 107,000 on print materials.
The Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) spent €80,000 in the third quarter.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
