Romania’s Permanent Electoral Authority, which governs electoral races in the country, released on Wednesday, November 27, the revenues and electoral expenses declared so far by the candidates in the presidential elections. While candidates spent millions of euros on ads, the top-placed candidate, independent Călin Georgescu, declared no expenses.

Călin Georgescu, who shocked analysts by placing first in the initial round of voting, declared zero campaign contributions and zero expenses, a claim he repeated in numerous interviews despite confessions from influencers that they were paid to promote him.

Meanwhile, Elena Lasconi, the USR candidate who came in second place, had contributions of over 19.4 million RON (EUR 3.88 million) and expenses of over 16.49 million RON (EUR 3.3 million), according to the AEP, cited by Digi24.

The same records show that acting prime minister and Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu spent the most in the electoral campaign: over 56.57 million RON (EUR 11.3 million), followed by the leader of the National Liberal Party Nicolae Ciucă, with contributions of 17.65 million RON (EUR 3.53 million) and expenses of 17.65 million RON (EUR 3.53 million).

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George Simion, leader and presidential candidate of the far-right party AUR, had contributions of 4.91 million RON (EUR 981,000) and expenses of 4.33 million RON (EUR 865,000). Kelemen Hunor, the UDMR candidate, had contributions of 1.7 million RON (EUR 339,000) and expenses of 1.63 million RON (EUR 325,000).

Former NATO official and independent candidate Mircea Geoană declared contributions of 8.2 million RON (EUR 1.63 million) and expenses of 8.4 million RON (EUR 1.67 million). 

Other candidates include:

• Ana Birchall, an independent candidate, had contributions of 200,000 RON (EUR 39,000) and expenses of 189,000 RON (EUR 37,000). 
• Alexandra Beatrice Bertalan Păcuraru, from the National Dignity Alternative Party, declared no monetary contributions to the campaign and expenses of 3,741 RON (EUR 729). 
• Sebastian Constantin Popescu, from the New Romania Party, had zero contributions and zero expenses in the campaign for the first round of the presidential elections. 
• Ludovic Orban, the leader of the Force of the Right, had contributions of 488,000 RON (EUR 95,000) and expenses of 486,000 RON (EUR 94,000). 
• Cristian Diaconescu, an independent candidate, had contributions of 625,000 RON (EUR 122,000) and expenses of 418,000 RON (EUR 81,000). 
• Cristian Terheş, the candidate of the Romanian National Conservative Party, had contributions of 170,000 RON (EUR 33,000) and expenses of 157,000 RON (EUR 31,000). 
• Silviu Predoiu, from the National Action League Party, had contributions of 113,000 RON (EUR 22,000) and expenses of 58,000 RON (EUR 11,000). 

According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, in total, the candidates in the presidential elections declared total contributions of 119.48 million RON (EUR 23.86 million) and expenses of 104.76 million RON (EUR 20.93 million).

The case of Călin Georgescu, who won roughly 23% of votes in the first round of the presidential elections, raises questions for electoral experts.

“While we understand that some candidates may spend less than others, it is implausible to carry out a campaign without any associated services - even producing videos posted on TikTok would require entering into service contracts. We also remind that candidates are not permitted to produce campaign materials on their own. It is highly unusual for a candidate who obtained over 20% of the votes to claim that they brought no funds into the campaign and spent nothing,” public policy think tank Expert Forum said in a press release.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Bogdan Buda)