§ Article 55Funding of Campaigning

1. Campaigning shall be financed from the funds received from parties or candidates for the Seimas member, which are being accumulated in a special election account opened according to the certificate issued by the Central Electoral Committee. The maximum permitted amount of money in the special election account shall be in the amount of 50 AMWs for a candidate in a single-member constituency and 1,000 AMWs for a list of candidates in the multi-member constituency. If the amount of money transferred to the appropriate account exceeds the established sum, the surplus shall be transferred by the bank to the State budget.
2. The expenditures of campaigning shall be: the cost of preparing, acquiring, producing or rendering of campaigning events, publications, radio or television programmes, as well as items or services aimed at influencing the will of voters to vote for or against a candidate or candidates. It shall be prohibited to cover these expenditures from other than these accounts. The items and services of campaigning the cost of which is more than 0.5 AMW may not be provided free of charge. The items and services of campaigning may not be provided giving obvious discounts. Those who desire to support a list of candidates or a candidate must do this by transferring funds to special election accounts. If expenditures related to the items of campaigning were made before the commencement of campaigning, the party or the candidate shall notify the Central Electoral Committee thereof, which, upon evaluating the items used for campaigning, shall reduce the permitted maximum amount of funds in the special election account by the above amount of the expenditure and shall issue a certificate that these items may be used during campaigning. The means of the mass media which has no state or municipal capital may indicate which list (lists) of candidates or which candidate (candidates) it supports and thereafter conduct their campaigning free of charge. In this event the means of the mass media may not be remunerated for campaigning in any other way. Where single services of campaigning, the cost of which is less than 0.5 AMW, are provided by the supporters of a candidate, a list of candidates free of charge (it shall not be permitted to the individuals specified in Article 54), their cost shall not be evaluated and shall not change the maximum permitted amount in the special election account.
3. Upon establishing that during the campaigning payment for the items or services used for campaigning has been made not from the special election account or in cash or indirectly, the tax inspectorate shall recover without suit the sum or remuneration (the sum or remuneration due) paid for the items and services used for campaigning from the receiver thereof and shall transfer the amounts to the State budget.
4. Campaigning shall also be financed from the State funds. A candidate, a party shall not pay for the time allotted to them on state, municipal radio and television under this Law, for the printing of campaign poster for a candidate in a single-member constituency, also for publishing an election program, lists of candidates in newspapers, and these expenditures shall not change the maximum permitted amount in the special election account.
5. The use of funds allocated for campaigning shall be controlled by tax inspectorates and the Central Electoral Committee. Parties must file with the Central Electoral Committee reports of the form established by the Central Electoral Committee on the sources of funds and their use for campaigning not later than within 25 days following the announcement of final election results. The Central Electoral Committee shall publish these reports in the Valstybės žinios (The official Gazette). The candidates of single-member constituencies shall, not later than within 15 days following the announcement of final election results, file with the Central Electoral Committee in the manner specified by it reports of the prescribed form.
6. Special election accounts shall be closed not later than within 20 days after the announcement of final election results. The candidates, the party which has nominated a list of candidates shall use the funds that have not been used for campaigning at their own discretion. The funds in the accounts which have not been closed by the due date shall be transferred by the bank to the State budget.