As of January 1, 2009, political parties will only be allowed to accept financial donations in cash from any donor only once a year, at maximum value of €5,000 (Sk150,630).
A party can accept a gift based on a written contract, while the signature of a donor must be verified on the day of the signing of the contract or on the day of provision of the gift at the latest. If the value of the gift is a maximum of €500 (Sk15,063), an authorised representative of the party will be allowed to sign the contract. A party will be allowed to receive membership fees above €5,000 only in non-cash form.
All of this information is from a draft amendment to the law on political parties and movements, signed by President Ivan Gašparovič on December 16. The law has been adopted in a reaction to the highly publicised problem concerning Vladimír Mečiar’s HZDS party, which last year received "donations presented in a plastic bag" totalling Sk11 million (€365,133). SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
