Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and his challenger Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), who will compete in the presidential runoff set for 11 January, can raise donations for their campaigns until 9 January, the State Electoral Commission (DIP) recalls.
The ceiling for funds to be spent on campaigning in the run-up to the first and second rounds of the presidential vote is 9.6 million kuna (EUR 1.26 million)
Josipovic, who has been nominated by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for his second term, and Grabar Kitarovic are due to provide DIP with preliminary reports on their respective campaigning costs until 3 January.
The deadline for submitting comprehensive and accurate reports on electioneering costs is 10 February 2015.
Donations given by businesses cannot exceed HRK 200,000, and donations by individuals can amount to up to HRK 30,000 in a year. Thus, those who have already donated this amount in the outgoing year, can do the same as of 1 January 2015.
The first round of Croatia’s sixth presidential election was held on 28 December, with none of the four candidates — Josipovic, Grabar Kitarovic, Milan Kujundzic and Ivan Sincic — securing an outright victory (50% plus one vote).
The first two vote-getters — Josipovic and Grabar Kitarovic — will therefore be vying in the runoff.
Josipovic won 38.5% of the vote, while Grabar-Kitarovic won 37.22%.
As for the other two candidates, Ivan Vilibor Sincic of the Human Barrier civil society association won 16.42% and Milan Kujundzic of the Alliance for Croatia 6.30% of the vote, DIP said in its preliminary election results.
The turnout was 47.14%, or 1,787,722 of a total of 3,792,638 eligible voters.