Voice-SD Fined €5,000 for Late Disclosure of Campaign Loan

Bratislava, 8 September (TASR) – Coalition party Voice-Social Democracy was fined €5,000 on Monday for its delayed disclosure of a loan agreement with a company called Element Business, Eduard Burda, who chairs the State Commission for Elections and Supervision of Political Party Financing, announced after a commission session on the same day. It was the tvnoviny.sk website that first broke the story. The loan was used to fund the 2024 presidential campaign of current head of state Peter Pellegrini. "The State Commission today imposed a fine on the Voice political party during administrative proceedings for the delayed publication of a loan agreement with Element Business. The decision was unanimous, with all members of the commission present voting in favour," stated Burda. According to Burda, the first submission to the commission came directly from Voice-SD, followed by a second one from the opposition 'Slovakia' party. The commission initiated proceedings over the suspicion that the party had failed to meet its obligations under the law on political parties. Under the law, parties are required to publish information about received loans on their websites within 30 days of signing loan agreements. According to the party's annual report, Voice-SD recorded one loan last year from the creditor Element Business worth €300,000. The loan was received on 26 January 2024 and repaid on 8 October 2024. The managing director of the company is the president's sister, Eva Pellegrini. Voice-SD stated that the loan information was added to the website "without delay after an internal audit revealed that the obligation had not been met". "From the moment when the administrative error was identified, up to our proactive submission of the report, we have maintained that we are prepared to accept any potential sanctions," the party's press department told TASR. The party said that it acknowledges the commission's decision and is ready to pay the fine. mf/df