SNS Records Most Expensive Elections Since Coming to Power in Negotin, Mionica, and Sečanj

Visits by numerous officials, road paving, and promises of infrastructure improvements marked the pre-election days in the three municipalities. Election day itself will be remembered for groups of unknown, masked men, unmarked cars with tinted windows, fights in a café next to a polling station, attacks on election observer missions, often in full view of the police. These elections were also notable because the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) spent more on the 2025 pre-election campaign than ever before since coming to power in these municipalities.

The total amount is more than three times higher than the combined spending in the last three election cycles for all three municipalities, according to CINS’s analysis of reports submitted to the Anti-Corruption Agency on campaign spending.

The largest amount was invested in Negotin, where SNS spent 7.5 million RSD on its campaign – almost 10 times more than in the 2021 elections in the same municipality, when the party allocated around 778,000 RSD for the campaign.

The largest portion, around 4.3 million RSD, was spent on billboards. The second-largest expense for SNS in Negotin was advertising on local TV and radio stations. RTV Majdanpek, Televizija Trans, TV Istok, and Hit Radio were paid around 2.8 million RSD.

These expenses were the main difference compared to the 2021 campaign.

According to that year’s reports to the Agency, SNS recorded no advertising expenses, and they spent 13 times less on billboards than last year.

Regarding the opposition, the “United for Negotin” list was the only other group besides SNS to win council seats in that municipality. Their report states that total campaign costs were close to 885,000 RSD.

For this list, most of the money – over two-thirds – was spent on printing promotional materials such as flyers and branding for campaign stands. Other costs included renting spaces, notary fees, and 69,000 RSD for consulting services.)

Nemanja Nenadić, program director of Transparency Serbia, believes the increased spending on pre-election campaigns compared to previous years indicates the political significance of these local elections.

However, he emphasizes that this is just a drop in the ocean compared to the resources available to ruling parties, and that the system of financing local election campaigns is extremely unfair:

“The system significantly favors parliamentary parties compared to local parties or citizen groups that are formed only to participate in elections. The Law on Financing Political Activities allows parties that receive money from the national budget for their regular operations to redirect that money into election campaigns, whether for national or local elections.”

SNS spent a total of around 3.3 million RSD on the 2025 campaign in Mionica, unlike the three previous elections in the municipality, in which they spent less than 1.5 million RSD combined.

According to the report, the largest portion – over 2.9 million RSD – was paid to the company Sky Solutions for the technical preparation of the convention. Sky Solutions is a sister company of Sky Music and is publicly known for organizing large music events such as Exit, Guča, and Beer Fest, and reportedly SNS events as well.

The student list “United for Mionica,” which won the second-most seats, reported campaign costs of 478,000 RSD, mostly for billboards and promotional materials.

The Social Democratic Party of Serbia also passed the electoral threshold in Mionica, reporting campaign costs above 970,000 RSD, more than three-quarters of which went to producing promotional materials and advertising in local media – specifically, the newspaper Napred and Radio Valjevo.

SNS campaign expenses in Sečanj increased by 1 million RSD

For the 2025 elections in Sečanj, SNS allocated 1.1 million RSD. In this municipality, the party spent roughly equal amounts on billboards and promotional materials as on organizing pre-election activities, including the “Local Elections Sečanj 2025” forum.

Sečanj also shows the largest difference in SNS spending compared to previous election cycles.

For example, in the 2022 elections, SNS spent around 122,000 RSD, practically all on promotional materials such as hoodies and T-shirts.

Several reports, from both ruling and opposition parties, were submitted to the Anti-Corruption Agency after the December 31 deadline. Among them was the “Voice of Youth Changing Sečanj” list, which told CINS that they submitted their report on February 3.

CINS analyzed this list’s campaign spending based on the report, which shows they spent 320,000 RSD on the campaign. Less than a third was for promotional materials such as flyers and posters, while the largest portion – around 214,000 RSD – was spent at the Idea supermarket.

The Socialist Party of Serbia also passed the threshold in Sečanj, reporting costs of around 113,000 RSD, covering promotional materials and hospitality services.

While reports include expenses for organizing pre-election forums and conventions, Nemanja Nenadić points out that the line between party and state activities was unclear in these campaigns:

“We also had situations where many officials, allegedly performing their regular duties, frequently visited Negotin, Mionica, and Sečanj, giving them opportunities for additional promotion.”

In addition, last year’s election campaigns in Zaječar and Kosjerić also saw record spending, which CINS also analyzed.