Transparency International flags Bosnian parties for illegal donations from state-linked firms

According to TI BiH, the parties in question are: HDZ BiH, SDP BiH, SDA, the RS Party, Naprijed BiH, the Democratic Front, and the Social Democrats.

“These parties accepted a total of 15 illegal donations, while several major parties, including the SNSD, once again reported zero donations from private companies — raising concerns about concealed sources of campaign financing,” TI BiH stated.

Among the most notable violations, HDZ BiH accepted a donation from AGIP Brčko, a firm that secured over 700,000 Bosnian marks (approximately €357,000) in public contracts with the Brčko District. Although the donation itself was modest, 1,500 marks (approx. €765), TI BiH emphasised the wider issue of firms winning substantial public tenders while donating to political parties.

Other problematic cases include Matisa, which donated to HDZ BiH and had three government contracts worth over 60,000 marks (approx. €30,500) last year, and Posing, which secured procurement deals in the Posavina Canton and the Municipality of Odzak.

SDP BiH accepted 3,000 marks (some €1,530) from Euromeat, a company awarded a 228,000 marks (around €116,000) contract to supply food to the BiH Ministry of Defence, currently led by SDP’s Zukan Helez. Another donor, Europrost, holds contracts worth over 90,000 marks(some €46,000) with the Municipality of Posusje.

Notably, the company “Kop i Ko” donated to both the SDP and SDA, while simultaneously securing public contracts across municipalities governed by these parties, with contract values exceeding one million marks (approximately €510,000). SDA also received donations from Inter-com Zivinice, which also holds state contracts.

Altogether, political parties in BiH reported 433,756 marks (approx. €221,200) in donations from private firms, accounting for only 1.48% of their total reported income. SDA declared the highest share, while 113 of 138 registered parties reported no private donations at all.

“This continues to raise red flags,” TI BiH warned, highlighting that the SNSD reportedly spent at least one million marks (some €510,000) more on its election campaign than declared, while claiming no private company donations. In previous years, SNSD at least reported some in-kind contributions, which are now entirely missing.

TI BiH further noted that major parties like PDP and SDP also failed to declare significant in-kind donations, despite apparent mismatches between actual and reported campaign expenses.

Only 367,000 marks (some €187,000) in in-kind donations were reported, with the largest portion — 39,000 marks (around €19,900) — declared by Our Party, mostly for online advertising covered by individual candidates. SDA reported 37,000 marks (some €18,870) under similar conditions.

Meanwhile, many parties listed unpaid campaign expenses as debts, which in 2024 totalled 6.9 million marks (some €3.52 million), a decrease from 11 million marks (around €5.6 million) in 2018. SDP BiH alone reported over one million Bosnian marks (approx. €510,000) in debt, much of it owed to retail chain Eso-Promet from Stolac, with unclear service details. CEC auditors have previously raised concerns about this liability.

SNSD, by contrast, significantly reduced its debt to just 73,000 marks (some €37,200), while the Socialist Party still owes 80,000 marks (approximately €40,800) to a family-owned firm of former MP Jakov Galić. The party has filed a lawsuit after the creditor declined to forgive the debt.

Despite its smaller size, DNS reported debts exceeding 250,000 marks (some €127,500), including a 100,000 marks (around €51,000) loan from Milenko Cvetkovic. The party also owes 57,000 marks (approx. €29,000) to Porsche Finance Group.

HDZ 1990 and Our Party both disclosed significant loans, 56,000 marks (approximately €28,600) and 60,600 marks (some €31,000) respectively, largely from senior party members. Our Party’s largest loan, 20,000 marks (some €10,200), came from its leader and state minister, Edin Forto.

According to official reports, parties declared total revenues of 29 million marks (approximately €14.8 million), of which 20 million marks (approx. €10.2 million) came from public budgets.

Transparency International continues to warn of major discrepancies between reported figures and actual financial operations. For the last election cycle alone, political parties allegedly concealed at least 2.6 million marks (approximately €1.33 million) in campaign expenditures.