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2008 Assessment

Bulgaria: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Bulgaria: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?	100
21	Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?	100
22	Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?	42
23	Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?	40
24	Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?	83
25	Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?	50

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?

20a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Law on Political Parties (Article 24): [ LINK ]

20b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: There is some confusion here between the Law on Political Parties and the other electoral laws such as the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament. Limits on donations to parties existed in the Law on Political Parties, but they were revoked in 2006. However, limits still exist in the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament that limit the individual donation for an election campaign to a maximum of 10,000 leva (USD$7,600).

References: Law on Political Parties (Article 24): [ LINK ] Law on the Election of Members of Parliament: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: A new draft law on this issue is undergoing parliamentary considerations. The new law would increase limitations on individual donations to political parties. Actually, some legislation provisions make it possible to go beyond those limits.

20c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: There is some confusion between the Law on Political Parties and other electoral laws such the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament. On the one hand, limits on donations to parties existed in the Law on Political Parties, but they were revoked in 2006. On the other hand, limits still exist in the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament limiting the individual donation for an election campaign to a maximum of 30,000 leva (USD$23,000).

References: Law on Political Parties (Article 24): [ LINK ] Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Article 72): [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: In this field, considerable legal amendments are under way. In the draft of one new law, there are more limits being placed on corporate donations to political parties. A total ban on corporate donations to finance political initiatives is not being ruled out.

Peer Review Comments: At present, the minsters of parliament are discussing new changes of the Political Party Act that are aimed at tightening the rules and setting new limits on the private and corporate donations. There is even an idea to forbid any corporate donations and allowing only the state budget to finance the activities of political parties.

20d: In law, there are limits on total political party expenditures.

Score:

YES

Comments: There are no explicit limits on political party expenditures in the Political Party Act. However, such limitations are included in the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament and the Law on Local Elections. The presumption is that the main activities of the parties are related to their participation in the elections, and this is the process that should be regulated, limited and controlled. The everyday existence of the parties is left outside this process of control.

References: Law on Political Parties (Chapter 3): [ LINK ] Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Article 72): [ LINK ] Law on Local Elections (Article 69): [ LINK ]

20e: In law, there are requirements for the disclosure of donations to political parties.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are any requirements mandating the disclosure of financial contributions to political parties. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no requirements mandating the disclosure of contributions to political parties, existing regulations do not require a donor\'s name or amount given, or the regulations allow for anonymous donations.$

Comments:

References: Law on Political Parties (Article 34): [ LINK ]

20f: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the finances and expenditures of political parties.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of party finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of political parties\' finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for parties to self-audit.$

Comments:

References: Law on Political Parties (Article 34): [ LINK ]

20g: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the financing of political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: The National Audit Office is assigned to monitor the financing of political parties.

References: Law on Political Parties (Article 34): [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: In reality, the National Audits Office does not have enough manpower, technical equipment, financial resources and legal authorization to do complete audits of all the data that is declared. Detailed verifications of declared data are initiated usually by the request or the demand of a public institution, NGO or political party. There are no sanctions in law for violations.

Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?

21a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Articles 71, 72, 73): [ LINK ] Law on Local Elections (Articles 68, 69): [ LINK ]

21b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Article 71): [ LINK ] Law on Local Elections (Article 68): [ LINK ]

21c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Article 71): [ LINK ] Law on Local Elections (Article 68): [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Bulgaria uses a purely proportional electoral system in parliamentary elections and local council elections. Therefore, the questions about individual candidates are not that relevant, except for the election of mayors and the president of the republic.

21d: In law, there are requirements for the disclosure of donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are any requirements mandating the disclosure of financial contributions to individual political candidates. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no requirements mandating the disclosure of contributions to individual political candidates, existing regulations do not require a donor\'s name or amount given, or the regulations allow for anonymous donations.$

Comments: There is no explicit law provision requiring disclosure of the contributions to the individual political candidates, but this is not a problem since only parties are running in legislative elections. However, there are requirements for disclosing financial contributions to the presidential individual candidates.

References: Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Article 73): [ LINK ] Law on Local Elections (Articles 70a, 71): [ LINK ] Law on election of President and Vice-president, Article 19, www.paragraf22.com/pravo/zakoni/zakoni-d/75.htm

Peer Review Comments: The independent candidates (nominated by independent committees) are obliged to declare only their bank accounts to the National Audit Office, but there are many ways to use the money from these accounts and the regulations do not campaign donors.

Peer Review Comments: Donations to the presidential candidates need to be disclosed. Again, the questions about individual candidates are not that relevant in Bulgaria. In parliamentary elections, candidates are not running campaigns that are separate from the parties.

21e: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the campaign finances of individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for candidates to self-audit.$

Comments:

References: Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Article 73): [ LINK ] Law on Local Elections (Articles 70a, 71): [ LINK ]

21f: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the financing of individual political candidates' campaigns.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a domestic agency or set of domestic agencies/entities formally assigned to monitor and enforce laws and regulations around the financing of individual political candidates\' campaigns. A YES score is earned even if the agency/entity is ineffective in practice. NO: A NO score is earned if there is no such agency or entity.$

Comments: The National Audit Office is assigned to monitor the financing of individual political candidates' campaigns.

References: Law on the Election of Members of Parliament (Article 73): [ LINK ] Law on Local Elections (Articles 70a, 71): [ LINK ]

Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?

22a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments: Though some positive changes were made in the legislation recently, the practical situation in regards to the control over the financing of political parties has not improved significantly. There is a certain legal vagueness in regards to the limits of the individual donations to political parties. The limits were repealed in the Law on Political Parties, but they still exist in other electoral laws where they are related to particular election campaigns. The audits of the political parties' financial reports carried out by the National Audit Office (NAO) have not yet led to major investigations by the Prosecutors' Office. In June 2008, a scandal broke out when a leaked report of OLAF (European Anti-fraud Office) linked several donors of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, as well as the incumbent president Georgy Purvanov, with misuse of financial means received as part of the European Union's assistance to Bulgaria.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ] Dnevnik Daily, September 24, 2008: Transparency International, Political Financing is the Basis of Corruption: [ LINK ] Capital Weekly, June and July 2008: [ LINK ]

22b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments: The situation with corporate donations to political parties is not much different than individual donations. The limits on the corporate donations were also repealed in the Law on Political Parties, but they exist in the other electoral laws, where they are applicable to separate election campaigns.

Though some positive changes were made in the legislation recently, the practical situation in regards to the control over the financing of political parties has not improved significantly. There is a certain legal vagueness in regards to the limits of the individual donations to political parties. The limits were repealed in the Law on Political Parties, but they still exist in other electoral laws where they are related to particular election campaigns. The audits of the political parties' financial reports carried out by the National Audit Office (NAO) have not yet led to major investigations by the Prosecutors' Office. In June 2008, a scandal broke out when a leaked report of OLAF (European Anti-fraud Office) linked several donors of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, as well as the incumbent president Georgy Purvanov, with misuse of financial means received as part of the European Union's assistance to Bulgaria.

22c: In practice, the limits on total party expenditures are effective in regulating a political party's ability to fund campaigns or politically-related activities.

Score:

100

Comments: Limits on total party expenditures can be easily bypassed, for example, through the mediation of party foundations, the direct purchase of goods and services, etc. The institutions that are meant to control whether the parties observe the limits are weak in terms of investigative powers an cannot do much than simple checks of the parties' accounting reports.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

22d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: The Bulgarian control mechanism over the financing of the political parties remains very weak despite of some recent positive legislative changes. In law, the National Audit Office (NAO) has no power to investigate allegations of violations related to party financing. NAO only collects the financial reports and checks their accounting accuracy. It could ask the Prosecutor's Office to start investigations.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

22e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: Bulgarian control mechanism over the financing of the political parties remains very weak despite some recent positive legislative changes. In law, the National Audit Office (NAO) has no power to investigate into allegations of violations related to party financing. NAO only collects the financial reports and checks their accounting accuracy. It could ask the Prosecutor's Office to start investigations.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: There are almost no cases of penal or administrative sanctions being brought for these types of violations.

22f: In practice, contributions to political parties are audited.

Score:

100

Comments: Political parties' finances are regularly audited. The problem is that the National Audit Office checks only the consistency and authenticity of documentation and has no power to investigate further.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: The National Audit Office does not have the capacity to even check the authenticity of documents. The verifications are started only after request of public institution, NGO or political party, or in case of evidence that proves the document to be fake.

Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?

23a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political candidates are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a particular candidate.

Score:

100

Comments: The control over the financing of individual political candidates still remains weak. The audit of the financial reports of the individual political candidates carried out by the National Audit Office (NAO) has not yet led to major investigations by the Prosecutors' Office. A good illustration of the current situation is the public scandal that broke out in June 2008, when a leaked report of OLAF (European Anti-fraud Office) linked several donors of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, as well as the incumbent president Georgy Purvanov (who ran at the last presidential elections as an independent candidate), with misuse of financial means received as part of the European Union's assistance to Bulgaria.

23b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to individual candidates are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate.

Score:

100

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ] Dnevnik Daily, September 24, 2008: Transparency International, Political Financing is the Base of Corruption: [ LINK ] Capital Weekly, June and July 2008: [ LINK ]

23c: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency or entity aggressively starts investigations into allegations of wrong doing with respect to the financing of individual candidates\' campaigns. The agency is fair in its application of this power. 50 Score Criteria: The agency or entity will start investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, thought limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. 0 Score Criteria: The agency or entity rarely investigates on its own, or the agency or entity is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments: What was mentioned in the previous comments regarding the control over the financing of the political parties (see below) is also valid in regard to the control over the financing of the individual political candidates. The Bulgarian control mechanism remains very weak. In law, the National Audit Office (NAO) has no power to investigate allegations of violations related to political candidates financing. NAO only collects the financial reports and checks their accounting accuracy. It could ask the Prosecutor's Office to start investigations.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

23d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: The National Auditing Office is not entitled by the law to impose penalties.

23e: In practice, the finances of individual candidates' campaigns are audited.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are regularly audited using generally accepted auditing practices. 50 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are audited, but audits are limited in some way, such as using inadequate auditing standards, or the presence of exceptions to disclosed contributions. 0 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are not audited, or the audits performed have no value in tracking contributions. Audits may be performed by entities known to be partisan or biased in their practices.$

Comments: It is not clear to what extent the financial reports of the individual political candidates are audited or not. In law, there is no explicit requirement for auditing these reports but only an obligation to submit them to National Audit Office. No information about such audits can be found on the webpage of the NAO.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Due to the lack of sufficient manpower, financial resources, technical equipment and legally prescribed authorization (limited competencies), the audit is limited and less effective than it should be.

Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?

24a: In practice, political parties disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Audit Office publishes summarized accounts of the parties' financial support and expenditures on its webpage. Some documents, such as the results of the audit of data relating to the financial support and expenditures of the political parties' financial records, are not published on the webpage and can only be accessed under the Law on the Access to Public Information.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ] Annual Report: Access to Information in Bulgaria (2007); Access to Information Programme (2008): [ LINK ]

24b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Audit Office publishes summarized accounts of the parties' financial records on its webpage. Some documents, such as the results of the audit of the political parties' financial records, are not published on the webpage and can only be accessed under the Law on the Access to Public Information.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ] Annual Report: Access to Information in Bulgaria (2007); Access to Information Programme (2008): [ LINK ]

24c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: Information about the financial records of the political parties in summarized form can be found online at the webpage of the National Audit Office.

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ] Annual Report: Access to Information in Bulgaria (2007); Access to Information Programme (2008): [ LINK ]

Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?

25a: In practice, individual political candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: There is no explicit law provision requiring disclosure of the contributions to the individual political candidates, but this is not a problem since only parties are running in legislative elections. No such information can be found at the website of the National Audit Office as regards the disclosure forms of the individual presidential candidates. Some information could be found in the media (for example, journalists' investigations in Capital Weekly about Ludmil Stoikov, the scandalous donor of the incumbent president).

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Presidential candidates do disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time.

25b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: There is no explicit law provision requiring disclosure of the contributions to the individual political candidates, but this is not a problem since only parties are running in legislative elections. No such information can be found at the website of the National Audit Office as regards the disclosure forms of the individual presidential candidates. Some information could be found in the media (for example, journalists' investigations in Capital Weekly about Ludmil Stoikov, the scandalous donor of the incumbent president).

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Presidential candidates' reports regarding campaign revenues and expenditures are easily accessible.

25c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: In law, there is no explicit provision for the disclosure of data related to financial support and expenditures of individual political candidates. No such information can be found at the website of the National Audit Office. Some information could be found in the media (for example, journalists' investigations in Capital Weekly about Ludmil Stoikov, the scandalous donor of the incumbent president).

References: Studies of Transparency International Bulgaria: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Once they are published on an Internet web page, the financial records are accessible online.

Peer Review Comments: Presidential candidates' reports regarding campaign revenues and expenditures are published on the Internet after elections by the State Audit Office.