There are savings times at the Center Party with reorganizations and staff notices.
Now it turns out that the party’s investment company lost a whopping SEK 341 million on stock market placements last year.
In addition, the new C leader Muharrem Demirok has had to halve the dividend to the party coffers.
As Aftonbladet previously reported, the Center’s finances have been shaken, which has led to staff reductions. It has created dissatisfaction and questions within the party about how the previous party leadership has handled the party’s money.
The Center has long been Sweden’s richest party after it sold its newspaper group for SEK 1.8 billion in 2005. But Annie Lööf has made large withdrawals from the investment company that manages the money after the sale, Randello Invest.
Shares and mutual funds plummet
Aftonbladet has read Randello Invest’s recent annual report for 2022, and it shows that the company lost a whopping SEK 341 million last year. The big loss comes from the fact that the value of the investments in shares and funds that the company has made has fallen.
The shaky stock market year of 2022 meant that the market value of the company went from SEK 1.9 billion last year to the current just over SEK 1.5 billion.
“2022 was a turbulent year on the capital markets,” the party writes in the annual report, which also states that the value of the holdings increased in 2023.
Picked out a record sum
But it is not just a falling stock market that has caused the piggy bank to shrink. In the last ten years, the party has withdrawn 1.1 billion from the company, and last year the management chose to withdraw the record sum of SEK 184 million.
This year, there will clearly be less money for the new party leader Muharrem Demirok to collect. According to the annual report, the party will collect SEK 96 million, i.e. almost half compared to 2022.
– We have had and still have a very uncertain economic situation in the world around us, which also affects us. We are therefore adapting to new economic conditions, says the Center Party’s party secretary Karin Ernlund.
According to the Center, the reorganization that the party underwent with the savings demands must now be complete. The result was that 15 people had to leave the party organization.
– We will have to prioritize and work differently. Which is also why we are reorganizing to be able to work smarter and more efficiently, says Karin Ernlund.
– At the same time, the Center Party is also a people’s movement party and our fantastic members around the country will also continue to work hard to develop our policy during the mandate period and we will be ready to face the voters in the next election.