Berlin: The volume of large donations for German political parties has surged ahead of the September election compared to four years ago, with Greens and the Pro-Free Business Democrats (FDP) of the main beneficiaries, according to the research group lobby.
The volume of donations of more than 50,000 euros ($ 59,200) reached 5.8 million euros each this year, one million euros above the level before the previous election in 2017, lobbyontrol data showed.
With Chancellor Angela Merkel did not stand for the fifth period, the race to lead Germany was more open than anytime in the last 16 years, pushing their donors to open their bags.
“Ms.
Merkel goes, and it makes this selection of a turning point that will determine German courses to take,” said Annette Sawatzki LobbyControl.
It has raised bets for donors, he said.
Green, placed second in polls and main challengers of Merkel’s conservative, is the biggest winner.
Their large donation section has jumped from 3% to 29% of the overall number.
It includes a contribution of 1 million euros from Bitcoin millionaire who said he considered his profit as a wealth that was not accepted.
The FDP section of large contributions also rose, to 42% from less than a third of 2017, and included a gift of 500,000 euros from a group of new entrepreneurs.
The conservative part of a large prize fell from 61% to 24%.
Social Democrats (SPD) do not receive large prizes, and there are no far alternatives to Germany (AFD), although like all parliamentary parties, they receive millions of millions in public funds under the financial rules of the German Party.
Under German law, only a donation of more than 50,000 euros must be stated immediately.
Donations of more than 10,000 euros may only be declared retrospectively, in the published partie account.
One big change is a decreased role of large companies.
In recent years, exporting Titans such as BMW and Daimler have stopped contributing to political parties, shifting their focus on activities such as sponsoring the Party Congress.