THE LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO THE SNS: According to estimates, Progressives have exceeded the campaign spending limit, with advertising worth €7.7 million!

The organization Transparency Serbia said today that the estimated value of advertising by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the “United Serbia” electoral list during the pre-election campaign amounts to €7.7 million, which, according to its estimates, represents 89 percent of the total for all lists.

Miša Bojović, a researcher at the organization, said today at a press conference in Belgrade that, under the amendments to the Law on the Financing of Political Activities adopted in June this year, the SNS had exceeded the legal limit of €6,000,000 for total campaign expenses.

“We can see that, during this period, the market value of these expenses is significantly higher than the limit set by law. When we compare the figures with the 2023 elections, our estimate at the time was that around €7.3 million had been spent over the entire campaign period. This year, we can see that even more money — €7.7 million — has been spent in a somewhat shorter period,” Bojović said.

According to their research, the SNS advertised most heavily on television channels belonging to the Pink television group, while its “United Serbia” list reported to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption that it had advertised only on Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).

They stated that the estimated value of advertising by the Student List was €275,132, while the “Ivica Dačić – Factor of Stability” list ranked ahead of it, with €528,662.

Transparency Serbia monitored advertising by five electoral lists on 22 television stations from September 17 to October 18 during the pre-election campaign for the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25.

The organization said it estimated the value of television advertising based on official rate cards and discounts published by the stations on their websites, meaning that the figures do not represent amounts actually paid, but rather its estimates.

Nemanja Nenadić, the organization’s program director, said that €12.5 million had been allocated from the state budget for the upcoming parliamentary elections, which he believes is the largest amount allocated for any election to date. He added that another €12.5 million would be allocated by the end of the year for the presidential election.

“For every seat won, the lists will receive more than €30,000. This means that, for example, a list that wins half the seats would receive more than €4 million from the state budget to cover election campaign expenses,” Nenadić said.

He added that the preliminary report by the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption was not a reliable indicator of campaign income and expenditure because, he claimed, the SNS had reported advertising expenses only on certain television stations where its advertisements had aired, while according to that report, the Student List had the highest expenses, amounting to more than 200,000,000 dinars.

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