Shopping around for cash: party funds in SK

THE FAIR Play Alliance, a political watchdog association, has concluded that Slovakia’s party financing system is broken, and it’s citing figures recently published on parliament’s website as proof.According to the annual report of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), it got the most donations of any parliamentary party last year. Annual reports were reviewed by the Parliamentary Committee for Finance, Budget and Currency on June 17, and then published on parliament’s website.
[11 Aug 2008; The Slovak Spectator online]
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KDH to return illegal gifts immediately

Fair-play Alliance said on August 4 that the KDH had illegally accepted gifts worth a total of Sk55,000 (€1,826). According to Zuzana Wienk from the Alliance, KDH received a Sk50,000 (€1,660) gift from a company called Brantner Nova, which is partially owned by the city of Spišská Nová Ves (Košice region) – and that is illegal. In 2007, the KDH received a gift worth Sk5,000 (€166) from a civic association, which the law also forbids.
[6 Aug 2008; The Slovak Spectator online]
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Website to list politicians' property and contacts

The Fair-Play Alliance has launched the website, in which it will bring concrete and verifiable information about the connections, commercial relationships, and property interests of Slovak politicians.
[31 March 2008; The Slovak Spectator online]
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Friends in high places

THE AVOCAT law firm and the Doxx food vouchers company are proving remarkably successful at winning contracts from state institutions led by nominees of the Slovak National Party (SNS). Coincidentally, the owners of both firms know SNS Chairman Ján Slota.
[17 Mar 2008; The Slovak Spectator]
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Low turnout expected in local elections

ONLY 20 percent of the Slovak electorate are definitely going to participate in the local elections on November 26, according to a poll by the Statistics Office.
[November 23, 2005; The Slovak Spectator online]
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Political parties are deep in debt

MOST of the major political parties in Slovakia are deep in debt. Even though they managed to pay off a total of at least Sk15 million (€390,000) in 2004, the debt still represents around Sk130 million (€3.38 million), the Hospodárske Noviny wrote.
[June 30, 2005; The Slovak Spectator online]
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MPs reject stricter rules for public tenders

PARLIAMENT yesterday rejected changes to the law aimed at strengthening controls on public procurement tenders, the Pravda daily wrote.
Zuzana Wienk from the non-governmental Fair Play Alliance said this was a "disappointment, because it was the first serious attempt to limit the use of the least transparent public procurement method".
[March 18, 2005; The Slovak Spectator online]
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Party bill takes flak

THE WATCHDOG group Fair Play Alliance (AFP) has asked members of parliament to reconsider changes in the new, cabinet-prepared law governing the finances of political parties. For one, the group wants the bill to provide more control mechanisms to ensure transparency into party finances.
[February 7 - February 13, 2005; The Slovak Spectator]
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Parliament in review

A CLOUD hung over Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda's ruling coalition in January 2004 as seven members of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) abandoned Dzurinda to form the Free Forum (SF). The foul weather was thought to have settled in when another ruling party, the liberal New Citizen's Alliance, lost more parliamentary members, leaving Dzurinda's government with a minority vote in the 150-member-strong parliament.
[December 20, 2004 - January 9, 2005; The Slovak Spectator]
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SDKÚ silent on who took over its Sk22 million debt

THE RULING Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) of Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda, does not have to pay a debt of Sk22 million (€551,000) because it was taken over by an unknown party in 2003.
The SKDÚ is refusing to reveal the name of the agent. Questions arise about who exactly took on the debt burden and what the motive was, the daily SME wrote.
[December 1; The Slovak Spectator online]
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Police: No SDKÚ inconsistencies

POLICE investigating alleged accounting fraud by the ruling Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), led by Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda, have found that the SDKÚ did not cook the books.
[November 8 - 14, 2004; The Slovak Spectator]
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Survey: NGOs play a vital role in nourishing a strong society

NGOs are pressed to become even more professional and develop unique expertise and know-how in a wide range of developmental strategies, say selected NGO leaders who see limited finances as a crucial problem for the sector in a survey conducted by The Slovak Spectator.
[July 26 - August 8, 2004; The Slovak Spectator]
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SKDÚ suspected of crime

THE RULING Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) party is believed to have committed a criminal act in the case of fake party donors.
The case goes back to findings made by the Fair Play Alliance NGO, which discovered that the SDKÚ donor list featured the names of people who denied having given any money to the party.
[July 22, 2004; The Slovak Spectator online]
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SDKÚ on illegal funding allegations

THE RULING Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) has announced the results of its internal investigation of allegations that it had claimed fake donors, a suspicion raised by the Fair Play Alliance (AFP) several weeks ago.
[May 24, 2004; The Slovak Spectator online]
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Do firms have to pay to play?

INDIVIDUAL donors and companies who employ donors of the Slovak political parties gained Sk5.2 billion (€129 million) in state orders over the last three years - with many selected in closed tenders - the latest analysis by the Fair Play Alliance (AFP) watchdog has shown.
"This sum is so big that we consider it inevitable that the area where party interests intersect with the distribution of public finances be subjected to greater public control," the AFP stated.
[May 17 - 23, 2004; The Slovak Spectator]
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Fair Play Alliance says party sponsors gain extensive state orders

Political ethics watchdog the Fair Play Alliance has found out that sponsors of political parties often gain exclusive state orders.
Between 2001 and 2003, donors of Slovak political parties obtained government contracts exceeding Sk5 billion (€124.4 million). They were associated with almost all of the political parties, the daily SME wrote.
[May 12, 2004; The Slovak Spectator online]
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Wienk: Control of party finances insufficient in Slovakia

ZUZANA Wienk of the watchdog group the Fair Play Alliance spoke to The Slovak Spectator on April 2 about the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) funding scandal. Among other comments, she said that the fake SDKÚ donors case proved that political parties in Slovakia face little, if any, financial control.
[April 13 - 18, 2004; The Slovak Spectator]
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Watchdog thinks SDKÚ listed fake donors

PRIME Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) has been plagued by a scandal that broke out last week in which the ruling party is suspected of manipulating its financial reports.

The sum has climbed steadily, as new fake donors have been identified, to reach more than Sk1 million (€25,000) according to the latest reports.
[April 13 - 18, 2004; The Slovak Spectator]
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SDKÚ faces funding scandal

PRIME Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) is suspected of manipulating its financial reports by hundreds of thousands of crowns.
The party has listed several people on its list of donors who deny having ever given the party any money, showed findings of the Fair Play Alliance watchdog.
[April 1, 2004; The Slovak Spectator online]
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New election law in the works

NATIONAL elections in Slovakia may take place under new rules if the cabinet and parliament approve changes to the law on elections as proposed by the Interior Ministry.
[November 3 - 9, 2003; The Slovak Spectator]
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Cabinet to kill campaign spending limit

Transparency watchdog organisations have warned of the danger in the planned elimination of a Sk12 million (€290,000) spending limit on parties' election campaigns. They argue that doing so before new rules of control are put in place would create a vacuum.
[September 8 - 14, 2003; The Slovak Spectator]
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Complaint of conflict of interests

Local watchdog organisation Fair Play Alliance (AFP) has complained that Finance Ministry spokesman Peter Papánek was listed as general director of the Donath-Burson-Marsteller SK marketing agency while also working as spokesman for the ministry.
[June 16 - 22, 2003; The Slovak Spectator]
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Sk12 million campaign limit to be eliminated

Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš said the current control of party spending in election campaigns was ineffective, and proposed the elimination of a law limiting pre-election promotional spending to Sk12 million (287,000 euro).
[March 10 - 16, 2003; The Slovak Spectator]
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Campaign money limit a "useless law" say experts, politicians

Election campaign 2002 has caused tax advisors, watchdog organisations and politicians to rethink the effectiveness of the existing Sk12 million ($222,000) limit on expenses for party promotion prior to elections.
[October 7 - 13, 2002, The Slovak Spectator]
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