Finance Minister Babiš to solve ownership of Agrofert in February

The Minister of Finance and ANO chief Andrej Babiš said on Thursday he would resolve his ownership of the Agrofert agro-chemical company in February. He made the statement in reaction to the new bill on conflict of interest, which places ownership restrictions on government members. The legislation, which came into force on Wednesday, prevents people with large stakes in companies from becoming ministers, while firms more than 10-percent owned by cabinet members are not allowed to compete for public tenders. Mr. Babiš, who owns one of the country’s biggest companies as well as several media outlets, repeated that he regarded the bill as unconstitutional.