Andrej Babiš to be named PM after pledging to give up his multi-billion crown empire
President Petr Pavel has announced that he is ready to name ANO leader Andrej Babiš to the post of prime minister next Tuesday, after the latter publicly dispelled concerns regarding his potential conflict of interest stemming from his multi-billion crown empire Agrofert. Babiš will head a centre-right cabinet made up of ANO, the SPD and the Motorists’ party.
“This is a step that I thought I would never make” the future Czech prime minister said in a video posted on social networks, in which he pledged to give up his multi-billion crown conglomerate Agrofert. Babiš said he would shift the company to an independently governed trust structure and that it would not return to him even after he leaves politics.
According to the plan, proposed by independent experts, the holding’s shares will be managed through a trust structure by an independent trustee, who will be overseen by an independent protector. Neither the trustee nor the protector may be a family member, a person in any way connected with Agrofert, or someone dependent on the company or on Babiš.
“The rules of operation contained in the fund’s statutes and the person of the trustee will ensure the independent management of Agrofert’s shares and will exclude that I could gain any benefit from the shares in the future. I will therefore not be a beneficiary or the ultimate owner. Likewise, neither my children nor my wife will have any influence on Agrofert or draw financial benefit,” Babiš said. “It is an irreversible solution; the shares will never return to me. My children will acquire Agrofert only after my death,” he stated.
Agrofert conglomerate includes 200 companies across Czechia and abroad
The Agrofert holding operates in agriculture, food production, and chemicals. It brings together roughly two hundred companies in the Czech Republic and abroad. These include among others, the chemical plants Deza, Fatra, Lovochemie and Precheza, or food companies Kostelecké uzeniny, Krahulík and Penam. Agrofert employs 29,000 people, of whom roughly 18,000 are in the Czech Republic, making it one of the largest private employers in the country.
The holding’s profit rose year-on-year by five billion crowns last year to 7.1 billion crowns. The reason was the sale of the media group Mafra, the company Londa operating radio stations, and the Pardubice chemical plant Synthesia. Revenues stagnated at 212 billion crowns.
Babiš’s investments are managed by the Hartenberg fund. In the investment group Hartenberg Holding, Babiš holds an 87.75 percent stake through the company SynBiol, another 9.75 percent is owned by Jozef Janov and the remaining share belongs to Agrofert’s head of acquisitions Libor Němeček. Hartenberg also invests in reproductive clinics, real estate, the food industry, and clothing brands; it controls the flower shop network Flamengo and the e-shops Ovečkárna.cz and Sportobchod.cz.
President Pavel to appoint Babiš prime minister on Tuesday
Czech President Petr Pavel, who had insisted that Babiš publicly clarify how he intended to address his potential conflict of interest, welcomed the announcement.
“I appreciate the clear and comprehensible way in which Andrej Babiš fulfilled our agreement and publicly announced the means of resolving his conflict of interest. I have decided therefore to appoint him to the post of prime minister on Tuesday, 9 December at 9 a.m. By doing so, I respect the results of the elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the course of the negotiations so far on forming a coalition government,” Pavel said on the X network.
According to his Office, President Pavel sees the solution Babiš chose as a public commitment made not only to him, but above all to the Czech public. According to the president, the manner in which the whole process is carried out will also be important.
Constitutional lawyers consider the solution adequate
Lawyers consider the solution presented by Andrej Babiš acceptable and satisfactory.
Constitutional lawyer Ondřej Preuss said that the plan is clearly an effort to resolve the issue. “If the whole concern is placed into a trust to which Babiš will never again have access and only after his death will his descendants gain control, then it seems to me a fairly generous solution,” he told the Czech News Agency.
According to Jan Kudrna from the Department of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law of Charles University, Babiš’s solution is more than sufficient from the point of view of constitutional law. “This totally excludes a conflict of interest,” he told Czech Television. “Babiš is leaving the administrative board of the Agrofert Foundation. So it cannot be argued that there may be some side path through which he could gain benefit through this foundation. From my point of view, nothing more could have been done,” he noted.
Mixed reactions from the political scene
“It is good that Andrej Babiš has finally presented some solution to his conflict of interest. Hopefully, this time, he will keep his promise to the public,” outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Civic Democrats) wrote on X.
“Formal compliance with the law may be met, but credibility is certainly not, in my view. That is why we will continue to carefully monitor how the government subsidizes Agrofert,” responded Vít Rakušan from the as yet ruling Mayors and Independents.
According to Petr Macinka, chairman of the Motorists’ party, and a future minister in the emerging government, Babiš has fulfilled his election promise to the public. “A person capable of making such a difficult personal decision will undoubtedly be the kind of prime minister the Czech Republic has been waiting for for many years,” he said.
