The ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party released its income and expenditure report for 2017 on Thursday (March 1), in which it recorded a positive net balance of 6.5 million kuna (867,000 euros).

According to the report, the party of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had a total income of about 50 million kuna (6.7 million euros), coming from a variety of revenue sources. Donations accounted for 4.6 million kuna – down by 3.6 million from the year before, while party memberships brought in 6.8 million kuna, up by 0.9 million from 2016.

The party said it managed to repay all outstanding loans from previous years and covered its deficit, stabilising its finances. All of its current loans are expected to be paid by the end of 2018.

The biggest single donation from businesses came from Lana Karlovačka Tiskara, a printing company from the central Croatian town of Karlovac, which makes cardboard packaging and which donated 200,000 kuna (27,000 euros), the maximum legally allowed amount.

The positive balance of 6.5 million kuna in 2017 helped HDZ pay for the 3.2 million deficit from previous years, freeing up 3.4 million for future investments, the party said. HDZ employed 74 people in 2017, down from 76 in 2016 and 81 in 2015.

All political parties, as well as independent members of parliament and municipal councillors at the local government level, are required by law to publish their 2017 financial reports by midnight on Thursday.