Croatia's ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) ended 2019 with a 3.8 million kuna (€510,000) net profit, while the strongest opposition party, the Social Democrats (SDP) posted a 1.1 million kuna (€148,000) net loss, the parties' financial records released on Monday showed.

Other parliamentary parties who ended the year in the black are the liberal junior coalition member People’s Party (HNS), the liberal regionalist Istrian Democratic Party (IDS), and the conservative Croatian Peasants’ Party (HSS).

Parties which ended the year with a deficit include the conservative populist Most party, the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), and the right-wing Independents for Croatia (NH).

In 2019 HDZ had revenues of 46.7 million kuna (€6.2 million), with expenditures totalling 42.9 million kuna (€5.7 million). Most of the party’s income came from state and local government budgets, as Croatian law allocates taxpayers’ money for political funding based on the numbers of lawmakers or local government councillors the party controls.

HDZ, which currently has 55 MPs in the 151-seat parliament, received 1.6 million kuna (€215,000) from donors, and 8.6 million kuna (€1.1 million) from membership fees – some 1 million kuna (€134,000) up from 2018. Almost a quarter of the party’s expenses – about 10.4 million kuna (€1.4 million) – was spent on salaries for its 74 full-time people employees.

SDP, which has 29 MPs, reported a 24.6 million kuna revenue (€3.3 million), and expenditures of 25.7 million kuna (€3.4 million). The party said it received 170,000 kuna (€23,000) from donations, and collected 1.5 million kuna (€200,000) from membership fees, down from 1.8 million kuna (€240,000)in 2018. About 20 percent of their spending – 5.3 million kuna (€710,000) – went to paying their 45 full-time staffers.

HNS, which currently only has four MPs, posted a 7.8 million kuna revenue (€1.05 million), expenditures of 7.1 million kuna (€950,000) and a positive net balance of 618,000 kuna (€83,000). They reported receiving 993,000 kuna (€130,000) from donors, and 26 full-time employees.

HSS, which also has four MPs, ended the year with a net profit of 1 million kuna (€134,000), with a revenue of just over 5 million kuna (€670,000). They reported getting just 28,000 kuna (€3,700) from donors, and collecting 173,000 kuna (€23,000) from memberships. The party had 10 employees in 2019.

The regionalist Istria-based IDS, which has three MPs, also ended the year with a net profit, of 183,000 kuna (€24,000), out of a nearly 5 million kuna (€670,000) in revenues. They reported a paltry 3,000 kuna (€400) income from donations, and some 592,000 kuna (€80,000) from membership fees. HSS employs seven staffers.

The populist Most party, which has 10 MPs, generated a total revenue of 7.6 million kuna (€1.02 million) but spent nearly 8 million kuna (€1.07 million), ending the year about 387,000 kuna (€52,000) in the red. The party received 37,000 kuna (€5,000) from donors, and another 30,000 kuna (€4,000) from memberships. They employ 21 staffers.

The main Serb party, SDSS, which controls all three MPs reserved for ethnic Serb representatives in the 151-seat legislature, posted a 106,000 kuna (€14,000) deficit, against a 2.4 million kuna (€320,000) revenue. They reported 120,000 kuna (€16,000) from donations and some 212,000 kuna (€28,000) from membership fees. The party has seven salaried staffers, which cost some 807,000 kuna (€108,000) in 2019, accounting for almost a third of overall spending.

(€1 = 7.45 kuna)

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