State Support of Electoral Campaigns

(1) The state may grant the electoral competitors interest-free loans.

(2) The state budget loans may be received only by a financial agent appointed by the electoral competitor to this end. Financial agents can be individual or legal persons registered with the Ministry of Finance; they shall be severally liable with the electoral competitor that appointed them. The application for a loan shall be submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

(3) The loans received from the state budget shall be cleared, in full or in part, by the state depending on the overall number of votes received by the electoral competitor in the respective constituency. The amount to be cleared by the state shall be calculated by dividing the loan received by the number of voters who voted, and then multiplying it by the number of valid votes cast for the respective electoral competitor.

(4) The electoral competitor who has withdrawn its candidacy shall pay back the loan allocated from the state budget for unrolling its electoral campaign within 2 months since the moment the candidacy has been withdrawn.

(5) Electoral competitors that received less than 3 per cent of valid votes cast in the election throughout the country or within the respective constituencies, including independent candidates who were not elected, shall pay back the state loans received within 2 months from the end of voting. The other electoral competitors shall pay back the state loans within four months.

(6) If the elected and validated mayor refuses to exercise his/her mandate, he/she shall pay back the expenditure incurred for organising and holding the elections.