Kuba's Movement Runs on Business Donations — Small Donors Are Almost Nowhere to Be Found

The new political movement led by South Bohemian governor Martin Kuba exists almost entirely thanks to large donations from businessmen, while ordinary supporters are virtually absent among its sponsors — this is what the organization's transparent account reveals.

In June, the movement's account received 1.2 million crowns from the joint-stock company Madeta, even though the son of the dairy company's owner, Jan Teplý, is running for mayor of České Budějovice on the ODS ticket. Even earlier, as reported over the summer, 1.5 million crowns each were transferred to the movement by Pavel Horský and Marek Spurný — board members of the energy holding EPH, owned by billionaire Daniel Křetínský.

The most generous donor turned out to be František Čupr, deputy chairman of the board of football club Sparta Prague, also headed by Křetínský, who contributed at the beginning of June. He transferred exactly 2 million crowns to the movement. Even earlier, in May, half that amount was donated by the investment company Sebre, backed by developer Jan Fiedler.

"František Čupr and his colleagues have supported ODS before, and Jan Fiedler and Milan Teplý (the owner of Madeta — ed.) and I have long discussed politics, so I appreciate that they decided to support our movement," Kuba himself commented.

The movement's launch depends entirely on donations, since, unlike established parties, it receives no state funding — the kind granted for mandates held by deputies, senators or regional representatives.

Curiously, the funding tied to the 34 regional mandates won by Kuba and his team back when they still ran under the ODS banner in the 2024 South Bohemian regional election continues to flow to the Civic Democrats — even after the governor left the party. For every regional deputy's mandate, the state pays parties 250,000 crowns a year, adding up to roughly 8.5 million crowns for South Bohemia alone.

How much the movement can invest in its campaign ahead of the municipal and Senate elections will depend directly on the scale of these donations. Its main stronghold remains the South Bohemian Region, but it intends to field candidates in dozens of constituencies across the country, and after the elections plans to form its own Senate faction.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz