Mišković, Beko refuse to discuss party financing

Miskovic and Beko have refused to say which political parties they financed during the election campaign. Miroslav Miskovic and Milan Beko are most commonly cited by unofficial sources as backers of all Serbia’s largest political parties. Miskovic, Beko refuse to discuss party financing Miskovic’s Delta refused to comment on claims made on B92 by former Serb Radical Party deputy leader Tomislav Nikolic to that effect. The influx of corporate money into politics is something rarely discussed in public, while political parties’ official financial reports have not once included the names of any famous rich businessmen. Besides Nikolic, the only one to have talked publicly about the issue is Bogoljub Karic, who admitted having given money to any party that asked him, until he entered politics himself. Marko Blagojevic from CeSID told Belgrade daily Blic that Nikolic had merely said aloud something that had been common knowledge for years. “I don’t see anything dubious about big business financing political parties provided the sources are legal. That’s normal all over the world. The problem here is the lack of transparency. The way parties function, especially during an election campaign is so expensive, that they cannot be financed by tax payers’ money alone. The new law on the financing of political parties should regulate that area and oblige parties to state the sources of their money. Since current law is unable to do so, I completely understand why neither political parties nor businessmen talk about the issue,” said Blagojevic. Miroslav Miskovic (FoNet, archive)

Mišković, Beko refuse to discuss party financing

Mišković’s Delta refused to comment on claims made on B92 by former Serb Radical Party deputy leader Tomislav Nikolić to that effect.

The influx of corporate money into politics is something rarely discussed in public, while political parties’ official financial reports have not once included the names of any famous rich businessmen. Besides Nikolić, the only one to have talked publicly about the issue is Bogoljub Karić, who admitted having given money to any party that asked him, until he entered politics himself.

Marko Blagojević from CeSID told Belgrade daily Blic that Nikolić had merely said aloud something that had been common knowledge for years.

“I don’t see anything dubious about big business financing political parties provided the sources are legal. That’s normal all over the world. The problem here is the lack of transparency. The way parties function, especially during an election campaign is so expensive, that they cannot be financed by tax payers’ money alone. The new law on the financing of political parties should regulate that area and oblige parties to state the sources of their money. Since current law is unable to do so, I completely understand why neither political parties nor businessmen talk about the issue,” said Blagojević.