European Commission suspends Agrofert subsidy payments

The European Commission has temporarily suspended payments of subsidies to companies belonging to the Agrofert holding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development for the second quarter of this year. The Commission said the move was linked to its ongoing review of a possible conflict of interest involving Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), who transferred his Agrofert shares to the RSVP Trust foundation in February.

The European Commission can suspend the payment deadline for up to six months. The period can be extended by a further three months if agreed with the Czech Republic.