The allocation of public funding in a clear, objective and fair manner aims to ensure that all political contenders have sufficient resources to reach out to voters and, thus, contributes to the levelling of the playing field for candidates and parties. At the same time, it is an essential tool in the fight against corruption, and reduces the dependency of political parties on wealthy groups or individuals. In almost all European states, political parties receive direct public funding, either on a regular basis or, additionally, related to electoral campaigns. Exceptions to the rule are Belarus, starting with the 2016 parliamentary elections, as well as Azerbaijan, Italy, Malta, Monaco and Switzerland. In Ukraine, regular public funding for political parties was only recently introduced in 2015.