Party money: how parliamentary parties spend state budget funds
7 April 12:56
In 2024, four parliamentary parties – Servant of the People, European Solidarity, All-Ukrainian Union Batkivshchyna, and Voice – received as much as UAH 840 million from the state budget for their statutory activities. This was reported by the CHESNO Movement, which analyzed the parties’ financial reports for the past year, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
In addition to the usual expenses for party centers, rent and printing, the parties transferred millions of dollars to dubious NGOs and individual entrepreneurs.
Only “Servant of the People” and “European Solidarity” did not spend the entire amount they received from the state. Therefore, they returned more than UAH 27 million and 9 thousand to the budget, respectively.
Servant of the People and European Solidarity also shared the largest expenditures on defense.
Party support for the army
Back in March 2022, parties were allowed to spend money on goals related to Ukraine’s defense and public safety.
Thus, last year, the largest expenditures of public funds for the Servant of the People and European Solidarity were donations related to helping the army. However, the parties made them in different ways.
“The Servant of the People transferred more than a third of its state funding, 270 million hryvnias, to the National Bank of Ukraine with a designation “for the needs of the Armed Forces.” The party has made similar donations in previous years. At the same time, according to the Chesno movement, the Servant of the People actively informed about its charitable activities both on its website and in its social media.
While European Solidarity allocated more than 35 million hryvnias to purchase military bonds, 3.7 million was transferred to the accounts of a military unit. Another 32 million went to the Solidarity Cause of Communities, an NGO that actively cooperates with Petro Poroshenko’s party.
Tens of millions to civic organizations and individual entrepreneurs
“Batkivshchyna” and “Holos” officially transferred almost no money to party branches and charity. In turn, their largest expenditures went to pay for various services of individual entrepreneurs.
“Batkivshchyna transferred over 66 million hryvnias. According to CHESNO, the recipients were former party employees, pro bono assistants to MPs, or members of the youth wing of the party, Batkivshchyna Moloda. The party paid almost 7 million more to a law firm and about 4 million for renting premises.
Golos allocated approximately one third of the party’s funding to NGOs. According to CHESNO , most of these CSOs are run by current or former representatives of the party. The payment was supposed to be for the provision of information and analytical services. Almost all other expenses are transfers to pay for the services of individual entrepreneurs. We are talking about the amount of over UAH 36 million in 2024 alone: for providing a range of services, from public opinion polls to consultations on social media promotion. There were 29 such entrepreneurs in total.
The parties “Servant of the People” and “European Solidarity” also transferred funds to the accounts of individual entrepreneurs – more than 58 million and 6 million, respectively. However, it is almost impossible for the public to understand what services the party provides with millions of public funding. In their public financial reports, the parties only indicate the numbers of contracts, without detailing information about the services provided.
“Last year, Golos lost its state funding for the second time
The CHESNO movement reminds that the Voice party has been deprived of public funds since 2021 due to false information in its reports. At the beginning of 2024, funding for the party was resumed, but the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) again recorded a number of violations in its 2020 reports. Back then, the party transferred over UAH 4 million to beneficiaries who did not actually provide any services to it.
In June 2024, the NACP suspended funding for the Voice political party due to inaccurate information in its reports worth almost UAH 5 million. The Golos called this decision a “dangerous precedent” that could have long-term consequences not only for them but also for the practice of building political parties in Ukraine.
on October 11, 2024, the Administrative Court of Cassation issued a ruling in case No. 855/3/24, which confirmed the legality of the decision of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) to terminate state funding of the Golos political party. The ruling is final and not subject to appeal.
As the NACP explained at the time, this means that the political party in this convocation will no longer receive state funding for its statutory activities. By the end of 2024, i.e. in two quarters, the political party should have received more than UAH 57 million.
The NACP also reminded that due to the violations found in the reports, funding for two political parties – All-Ukrainian Union “Batkivshchyna” and “Holos” – was suspended in 2020, and funding for the “Servant of the People” party was suspended in 2021. After these parties eliminated the violations, the NACP resumed funding them.
How the state finances Ukrainian parties
Political parties that received at least 5% of the vote in the last parliamentary elections are eligible for funding from the state budget.
“Slovo i Dilo has prepared an infographic on how the budget spending on parties has changed.
The relevant law introducing state funding of parties was adopted back in 2015 to reduce the influence of oligarchs. Initially, parties had to overcome a 2% threshold to receive funding. In 2019, the Law on Political Parties was amended to allow parties that received at least 5 percent of the vote to receive state funding.
