Political Finance Database

Only the following persons have the right to make donations to political campaign participants (political parties and candidates):

1) citizens of the Republic of Lithuania – to participants in political campaigns of all types of elections;

2) permanent residents of the Republic of Lithuania who have the citizenship of another Member State of the European Union - to participants in political campaigns for elections to the European Parliament and Municipal Councils

3) permanent residents of the Republic of Lithuania who do not have the citizenship of another Member State of the European Union, or stateless persons - to participants in political campaigns for elections to Municipal Councils

Persons who are not entitled to finance political campaign participants under the laww are prohibited from supporting them in any form.

Only the following persons have the right to make donations to political campaign participants (political parties and candidates):

1) citizens of the Republic of Lithuania – to participants in political campaigns of all types of elections;

2) permanent residents of the Republic of Lithuania who have the citizenship of another Member State of the European Union - to participants in political campaigns for elections to the European Parliament and Municipal Councils

3) permanent residents of the Republic of Lithuania who do not have the citizenship of another Member State of the European Union, or stateless persons - to participants in political campaigns for elections to Municipal Councils.

Persons who are not entitled to finance political campaign participants under the laww are prohibited from supporting them in any form.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

The treasurer of a political campaign shall publish the name of the donor - a natural person - in a public list of donors published on the website of the Central Electoral Commission no later than 10 working days from the date of the receipt of the donation, if the donation exceeds EUR 12 (small donation)

The treasurer of a political campaign shall publish the name of the donor - a natural person - in a public list of donors published on the website of the Central Electoral Commission no later than 10 working days from the date of the receipt of the donation.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

Only natural persons have the right to donate during election campaigns.

A member of a political party may pay a membership fee to a political party during a calendar year, which shall not exceed the amounts of 20 published average monthly earnings (AMEs) valid  for the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year. The total amount of membership fees for a political party during a calendar year may not exceed 10% of the annual income of the previous calendar year declared by a political party member (when the membership fee is paid after May 1) or the previous calendar year (when the membership fee is paid before May 1)..

Single donations by natural persons during poltiical campaigns must not exceed the amount of 10 average monthly earnings (AMEs) valid in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year. The total amount of donations by a natural person in a calendar year may not exceed 10% of the annual income declared by the person in the previous calendar year.

Legal persons not allowed to make donations.

Single donations by natural persons during poltiical campaigns must not exceed the amount of 10 average monthly earnings (AMEs) valid in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year. The total amount of donations by a natural person in a calendar year may not exceed 10% of the annual income declared by the person in the previous calendar year.

Legal persons not allowed to make donations.

Single donations by natural persons during poltiical campaigns must not exceed the amount of 10 average monthly earnings (AMEs) valid in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year. The total amount of donations by a natural person in a calendar year may not exceed 10% of the annual income declared by the person in the previous calendar year.

Legal persons not allowed to make donations.

A candidate in the single-member constituency and the referendum initiators may donate up to 20 AMEs (AMEs - average monthly earnings valid in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year). The total donation by a candidate to fund their political campaign in a calendar year may not exceed 20% of such persons' declared annual income for the last previous calendar year and declared available funds.

The total amount of non-cash donation can not exceed 10 AMEs (average monthly earnings valid in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year) and can be donated only by natural persons.

The procedure for appraising non-cash donations and estimating their fair value is laid down by the Government or an institution authorised by it.

The total amount of non-cash donation can not exceed 10 AMEs (average monthly earnings valid in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year) and can be donated only by natural persons.

The procedure for appraising non-cash donations and estimating their fair value is laid down by the Government or an institution authorised by it.

Political parties shall enjoy the right to engage in publishing, distribution of printed matter and party symbols, management, use and disposal of the property belonging by the right of ownership, organisation of political and cultural events (lectures, exhibitions, etc.) and other activities; money received from such activities may be used only to pursue the purposes of the political party as specified in the statute of the political party.

Any other engagement in commercial enterprises is prohibited.

Political campaigns of political parties can be financed by loans received by a political party from banks registered in the Republic of Lithuania or another European Union Member State or a branch of a bank registered in the European Economic Area and operating in the Republic of Lithuania.

Political campaigns of other independent political campaign participants (other than political parties) shall be financed from: 1) donations of natural persons who under the law have the right to donate and donations of political parties to candidates, lists of candidates or referendum initiators, or referendum opponents; 2) own (personal) funds; 3) interest on the funds kept in the political campaign account.

It is prohibited to finance political campaigns of other independent political campaign participants with other funds which are not specified in the law.

Political parties shall enjoy the right to engage in publishing, distribution of printed matter and party symbols, management, use and disposal of the property belonging by the right of ownership, organisation of political and cultural events (lectures, exhibitions, etc.) and other activities; money received from such activities may be used only to pursue the purposes of the political party as specified in the statute of the political party.

Any other engagement in commercial enterprises is prohibited.

Cash donations of natural persons that exceed EUR 290 must be donated only by bank transfer. Cash donations of natural persons for the political campaign received not by bank transfer shall be transferred by the political campaign treasurer to the political campaign account not later than the next day after receipt of the donation.

Small donations (not exceeding EUR 12) to independent political campaign participants may be donated by phone, internet, bank transfer or other means, allowing the controlling authorities of financing of political campaigns to identify the donor.

State budget appropriations for political parties shall be provided for in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the approval of financial indicators of the state budget and municipal budgets for each year and shall be allocated through a separate budget programme implemented by the Central Electoral Commission.

Article 21.1: Political parties, which are registered in the Register of Legal Entities in accordance with the procedure laid down by the law and which satisfy statutory requirements regarding the number of political party members and the reform or liquidation procedure has not been initiated in respect of them, shall be entitled to state budget appropriations to fund activities of the political party.

Article 21.2: State budget appropriations designated for funding activities of the political party shall be allocated to those political parties satisfying the criteria set out in the Article 21.1 which received not less than 2 per cent of all the votes cast by the voters for the candidates of the political parties in those elections to the Seimas, municipal councils, the European Parliament according to the results of which these state budget appropriations are allocated.

Article 21.6: If, after elections to the parliament, a new political party is registered which satisfies the criteria set out in the Article 21.1 is a parliamentary party, its activities shall be financed from the state budget appropriations equal to the lowest state budget appropriations designated to parliamentary party  in the previous calendar year multiplied by the ratio of the number of members of the parliamentary group of new parliamentary party and of the the number of members of parliamentary group of the least-funded parliamentary party.

Article 21.4: 1) by summing up only the votes of voters cast for the candidates of those political parties which received not less that 2 % of all votes, the number of all votes is determined; 2) a six-month financial coefficient of one voter’s vote is established by dividing the half of the state budget appropriations designated for funding activities of the political party by the number of votes of all the voters; 3) the six-month state budget appropriations allocated for the political party to fund activities of the political party is determined by multiplying a six-month financial coefficient of one voter’s vote by the number of votes of the voters who cast their votes for the candidates of this political party.

Article 21.6: If, after elections to the parliament, a new political party is registered in the Register of Legal Entities is a parliamentary party, its activities shall be financed from the state budget appropriations equal to the lowest state budget appropriations designated to parliamentary party  in the previous calendar year multiplied by the ratio of the number of members of the parliamentary group of new parliamentary party and of the the number of members of parliamentary group of the least-funded parliamentary party.

Article 20.5:

State budget appropriations for political parties may be used only for the following:

1) to fund a political campaign;

2) to pay an election deposit;

3) to purchase current and fixed assets;

4) to settle with employees;

5) taxes and other contributions to the state budget, compulsory state social insurance contributions and compulsory health insurance contributions;

6) to cover expenses related to the provision of services;

7) to cover arrears of the political party’s political campaign;

8) to repay loans taken by the political party and intended for the expenses referred to in Points 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this paragraph.

Discussions of candidates over the radio and on television with the aim of presenting election programmes - in compliance with the principle of equality and according to the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission - shall be financed with state budget funds allocated to the Central Electoral Commission after the latter announces the final lists of candidates.

Discussions of candidates over the radio and on television with the aim of presenting election programmes - in compliance with the principle of equality and according to the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission - shall be financed with state budget funds allocated to the Central Electoral Commission after the latter announces the final lists of candidates.

State and municipal property may be provided to candidates for campaign meetings.

Heads of state, municipal institutions and agencies must help candidates to organise meetings with voters and to receive necessary information.

A person who has used mental coercion, deception or bribery against a person entitled to vote or to take part in a referendum in order to influence his or her will in exercising his or her right to vote or to abstain or to take part in a referendum, or has taken such action against a person eligible to be elected, shall be punished by community service or by a fine or by restriction of liberty or by arrest or by a custodial sentence for a term of up to four years.

"Article 14.2: In those cases where the constituency covers the entire territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of one independent political campaign participant shall be calculated in the following manner: the number of voters entered on the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania shall be multiplied by 0,0005 AMEs and the received product shall be rounded up within the accuracy of the first two significant digits.

Article 14.3: In those cases where the constituency covers a part of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of one independent political campaign participant shall be calculated in the following manner: the number of voters of one constituency shall be multiplied by 0,001 AMEs and the received product shall be rounded up within the accuracy of the first two significant digits. If the received product is less than 10 AMEs, the fixed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure shall be 10 AMEs. In elections to municipal councils a political party, which has nominated a list (lists) of candidates, may additionally spend for this political campaign not more than 10 per cent of the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of the list (lists) of candidates nominated by this party."

In those cases where the constituency covers the entire territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of one independent political campaign participant shall be calculated in the following manner: the number of voters entered on the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania shall be multiplied by 0,0005 AMEs and the received product shall be rounded up within the accuracy of the first two significant digits.

In those cases where the constituency covers a part of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of one independent political campaign participant shall be calculated in the following manner: the number of voters of one constituency shall be multiplied by 0,001 AMEs and the received product shall be rounded up within the accuracy of the first two significant digits. If the received product is less than 10 AMEs, the fixed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure shall be 10 AMEs. In elections to municipal councils a political party, which has nominated a list (lists) of candidates, may additionally spend for this political campaign not more than 10 per cent of the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of the list (lists) of candidates nominated by this party.

It is forbidden to fund participants of political campaigns through third parties.

During an election (referendum) campaign it shall be prohibited to disseminate political advertising:

1) for free, except discussion programmes;

2) on television, except discussion programmes and campaigning-related videos of not less than 30 seconds duration in which a political campaign participant informs about his political programme or speaks on issues topical to the public.

Expenditure of a political campaign participant for the above-mentioned campaigning videos may not exceed 50 per cent of the allowed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure set for the political campaign participant.

During a political campaign, public information producers or disseminators may disseminate political advertising only at the rates and under the conditions which are equal to all political campaign participants and which are submitted to the Central Electoral Commission not later than 30 days before the day of the election or referendum.

The same regulation applies to all types of media.

During an election (referendum) campaign it shall be prohibited to disseminate political advertising:

1) for free, except discussion programmes;

2) on television, except discussion programmes and campaigning-related videos of not less than 30 seconds duration in which a political campaign participant informs about his political programme or speaks on issues topical to the public.

Expenditure of a political campaign participant for the above-mentioned campaigning videos may not exceed 50 per cent of the allowed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure set for the political campaign participant.

During a political campaign, public information producers or disseminators may disseminate political advertising only at the rates and under the conditions which are equal to all political campaign participants and which are submitted to the Central Electoral Commission not later than 30 days before the day of the election or referendum.

Each year but not later than by 15 March, political parties shall submit to the Central Electoral Commission an approved set of financial statements for the previous calendar year and related annexes (a report on the use of state budget appropriations, a report on the financing of the activities of a political party, indicating the sources of financing the activities of the political party and expenditures, as well as information on the political advertising disseminated and its sources of financing) as well as the auditor’s report on findings, if such a report is mandatory, as well as a record journal of the political party membership fee.

A set of financial statements of the political party shall consist of the following financial statements:

1) balance sheet;

2) performance report;

3) explanatory note of the financial statements.

Within 10 working days from the day of the receipt of the information, a political campaign treasurer shall publish on the website of the Central Electoral Commission the data on donations received, the expenses of the political campaign, financial commitments made and funding agreements concluded during the political campaign.

The political campaign treasurer shall submit a political campaign funding report to the Central Electoral Commission not later than 25 or 85 calendar days from the proclamation of the final results of the election or referendum.

Within 10 working days from the day of the receipt of the information, a political campaign treasurer shall publish on the website of the Central Electoral Commission the data on donations received, the expenses of the political campaign, financial commitments made and funding agreements concluded during the political campaign.

The political campaign treasurer shall submit a political campaign funding report to the Central Electoral Commission not later than 25 or 85 calendar days from the proclamation of the final results of the election or referendum.

It is forbidden to fund participants of political campaigns through third parties.

The Central Electoral Commission shall publish on its website the accounting records of political campaign funding, political campaign funding agreements, political campaign funding reports together with the auditor’s report of factual findings (if such report is mandatory) not later than 10 working days after their receipt of the information.

The set of financial statements of a political party and related annexs, the auditor's report of factual findings, and the lists of members of a political party who have paid a membership fee of more than € 360 per calendar year shall be public for 10 years.

No later than within 10 days from the day of receipt of a donation, a political campaign treasurer shall publish the name, surname of a donor-natural person on a public list of donors on the website of the Central Electoral Commission.

The identity of donor is not published in case of small donations (not exceeding EUR 12), but the way in which they are paid (phone, internet, bank transfer or other means), must allow the controlling authorities of financing of political campaigns to identify it. The total amount of small donations received by an independent political campaign participant without specifying the donors shall be indicated in the accounting records of political campaign funding and published on the Central Electoral Commission's website.

The Central Electoral Commission approves model forms of the accounting record of political campaign funding, including itemized registry of incomes.

All political campaign proceeds received by a political party from the sources specified in the law and all political campaign proceeds received by other independent political campaign participants from the sources specified in the law as well as political campaign expenditure or assumed financial liabilities shall be entered in the accounting records of political campaign funding.

All political campaign proceeds and expenditure as well as assumed liabilities (according to the expenditure groups) shall be specified in a political campaign funding report in compliance with the description of the procedure for filling in and submitting a political campaign funding report approved by the Central Electoral Commission. The list of donations and donors or sums of donations according to the groups of donors shall be submitted separately.

The Central Electoral Commission approves model forms of the accounting record of political campaign funding, including itemized registry of spending.

All political campaign proceeds received by a political party from the sources specified in the law and all political campaign proceeds received by other independent political campaign participants from the sources specified in the law as well as political campaign expenditure or assumed financial liabilities shall be entered in the accounting records of political campaign funding.

All political campaign proceeds and expenditure as well as assumed liabilities (according to the expenditure groups) shall be specified in a political campaign funding report in compliance with the description of the procedure for filling in and submitting a political campaign funding report approved by the Central Electoral Commission. The list of donations and donors or sums of donations according to the groups of donors shall be submitted separately.

Each year but not later than by 15 March, political parties shall submit to the Central Electoral Commission an approved set of financial statements for the previous calendar year and related annexes (a report on the use of state budget appropriations, a report on the financing of the activities of a political party, indicating the sources of financing the activities of the political party and expenditures, as well as information on the political advertising disseminated and its sources of financing) as well as the auditor’s report on findings, if such a report is mandatory, as well as a record journal of the political party membership fee.

The Central Electoral Commission shall control the compliance by political campaign participants with the requirements of the law and propose to hold liable for violations of this Law or to appeal to other institutions whose competence granted by the law allow to inspect the compliance with the requirements laid down by the law.

The Central Electoral Commission shall be responsible for continuous timely provision of information about violations of funding of political campaigns to the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania and to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania.

The State Tax Inspectorate shall inspect whether or not donors possessed enough income to make donations and whether or not the income has been taxed in accordance with the procedure laid down by the law. The State Tax Inspectorate shall inform the Central Electoral Commission about the performed inspection and the violations of legal acts established during it.

The auditor must carry out independent inspection of an independent political campaign participant in compliance with legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania and according to the terms of reference approved by the Central Electoral Commission defining the scope of work assigned to the auditor.

The Central Electoral Commission:
- controls the compliance by political campaign participants with the requirements of the law and propose to hold liable for violations of this Law or to appeal to other institutions whose competence granted by the law allow to inspect the compliance with the requirements laid down by the law
- controls the use of funds designated for a political campaign.
- is responsible for continuous timely provision of information about violations of funding of political campaigns to the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania and to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania.

When necessary, the Central Electoral Commission shall have the right to get access in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts to the documents substantiating the data provided in a set of financial statements of the political party.

Forfeiture - If a political party accepts and uses funds from unauthorized sources of political party funding, the Central Electoral Commission shall adopt a decision ordering the political party to transfer to the state budget the same amount that the political party has accepted or used from unauthorized sources of political party funding, except in cases where, due to a serious violation of the law, the political party has not been allocated state budget appropriations (forfeiture).

Loss of public funding - Where the Central Electoral Commission recognizes that a political party has grossly violated this Law, or has made a gross violation of the funding of a political campaign, such political party shall not be allocated state budget appropriations for a period of up to two years counting from the date of entry into force of the decision. If it is established that a political party has violated the requirements established in Article 26(3) of the law, upon the decision of the Central Electoral Commission the amount of the state budget appopriations corresponding to the value of unpublished contracts concluded in accordance with the Law on public procurement, shall not be allocated to the political party.The state budget appropriations which are not allocated due to the said reasons shall be returned to the state budget

Suspension of public funding - In case of failure to provide the Central Electoral Commission with the information or documents necessary to decide whether a political party has committed a gross violation of the law, the Central Electoral Commission has the right to suspend the allocation of state budget appropriations until the information and documents referred are submitted.

If it is established that activities of a political party is inappropriate, the court may apply one of the following measures:

1) to temporarily terminate the powers of members of the governing bodies of the political party;
2) to obligate the political party, its governing bodies or their members to carry out specific actions or not to carry out them;
3) to liquidate the political party (deregistration of party).

Fines for violations of the Law on Funding of, and Control Over Funding of, Political Campaigns in relation to donations, funding of political campaign participants, accounting procedure for political campaign expenditure range from 30 to 5800 EUR.

Persons who have unlawfully provided funds or other support exceeding the amount of 500 BSB (Basic Social Benefit) to finance, directly or indirectly, a political party or political campaign, or have unlawfully received or used such funds or support in the activities of a political party or political campaign, are punishable by a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years.