Croatia spends 29 million KM annually on political parties, BiH slightly less, around 24 million

Croatian political parties had 221 employees in 2014, earned about 29 million KM, and spent about half a million KM more, meaning they were in the red by that half a million KM, according to a financial audit conducted by the State Audit Office.  

Index.hr writes that the audit 'reviewed' 30 parties (14 parliamentary and 16 non-parliamentary), six independent members of parliament, and two independent local councilors, and found the usual irregularities: weaknesses in planning, accounting, and spending of funds.

Some parties report data in their financial statements that is not accurate and true, while some do not know which local authorities are supposed to finance them, nor how much they owe them, etc.

Looking at parliamentary parties, SDP (6.1 million), HNS, HSU, SDSS, Labourists, and IDS were in the black, while HDZ (10 million), HDSSB, HSSS, and HSP-AS were in the red.

Donations fell short

The goal of the audit is not merely to sum up income and expenses, but primarily to verify the accuracy of financial statements, the regularity of income acquisition, and the application of the law.

Index writes that parties received the most money, about 14 million KM, from the state, followed by local budgets (about 10 million KM), and then membership fees and donations.

Parties in BiH are poorer than their neighbors from Croatia. According to data from the Audit Service of the Central Election Commission of BiH, the total annual financial operations of 90 out of 127 political entities (37 did not submit reports) in 2013 amounted to slightly more than 24 million KM.

As in Croatia, parties in BiH generated most of their funds from budgets (nearly 19 million KM, accounting for 77.1 percent of total revenue, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

Also, party income from donations is very significant for parties in BiH. Thus, parties in BiH collected more than two million KM through contributions from individuals for 2013, about 1.5 million KM from membership fees, and received nearly 700,000 KM from legal entities (firms and companies).

However, it should be noted that with the Draft Budget for 2016, the Government of the Federation of BiH plans to increase funding for political parties and coalitions by slightly more than three million KM next year, writes NAP.