Electoral contestants can ask for loans from state till March 23

The electoral competitors can ask for loans from the state at least till March 23, 2009, under the regulation on providing loans, published in Monitorul Oficial on March 6, Info-Prim Neo reports. Each party can take a no-interest loan of up to 32,000 lei, and each independent candidate – up to 5 thousand lei. The money will be granted on the basis of a contract with the Finance Ministry, endorsed by the Central Electoral Commission, and will be transferred to a special bank account marked as 'Electoral Fund'. These loans will be paid up by the state in function of the number of votes given to the electoral competitor. The parties which will collect less than 3% of the votes and the independent candidates that will not be elected will return the loans within two months after the elections. The other electoral competitors will reimburse the money within 4 months. The Finance Ministry is entitle to apply penalties. For instance, if no report is presented as to using the loan, the penalty shall be 50% of the loan.