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Andrej Babiš, the self-proclaimed “Trumpist” billionaire who won last month’s Czech election, has refused to sell his huge business empire, but insisted he will resolve a conflict of interest that threatens to bar him from becoming prime minister.
Babiš, whose ANO party finished a comfortable first in the October vote but failed to secure a majority in parliament, said in a social media post on Thursday he would not sell his Agrofert farming, food processing and chemicals conglomerate.
“I have repeatedly said I will never sell Agrofert. I have repeatedly said I will resolve the conflict of interest in accordance with Czech and European laws,” Babiš, whose net worth is estimated $3.9bn (£2.9bn), said. “This is not like selling a roll in a bakery.”
The Czech president, Petr Pavel, said on Wednesday that the 71-year-old populist must explain publicly how he will eliminate conflicts of interest arising from his business activities before he can be appointed prime minister.
The Czech constitution “explicitly requires the president to take into account the possible emergence of a conflict of interest and the possibilities for its resolution” when considering who to appoint as government ministers, Pavel’s office said.
The president “wants it to be clear in what specific way Andrej Babiš will fulfil his constitutional and legal obligations”, the statement said, adding that Pavel was ready to appoint Babiš as prime minister “without delay” as soon as the issue was resolved.
Babiš’s several hundred companies, most under the Agrofert umbrella, operate in the Czech Republic and other central European countries, benefiting from tens of millions of euros in national and EU farming and other subsidies, as well as public contracts.
Under Czech law, government ministers cannot receive public aid or contracts. The corruption watchdog Transparency International has said that to avoid a conflict of interest Babiš must either sell, refuse public contracts, or stay out of government.
Babiš said he would “abide by the laws” if he was appointed prime minister, but did not want to explain how in advance because the issue was “an extremely sensitive and personal matter for me, and journalists will always criticise me anyway”.
During his first term as prime minister, from 2017 to 2021, Babiš faced several legal battles and an EU investigation over potential conflicts of interest. He temporarily moved his assets to trust funds, while retaining some influence over them.
A court and the European Commission both ruled that this was insufficient. Babiš confirmed last month that he was again the sole owner of Agrofert and insisted he was “taking steps” to avoid a conflict of interest, but refused to disclose details.
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The billionaire populist has signed a coalition agreement with two rightwing fringe parties, the far-right, pro-Russian SPD, which has called for a referendum on leaving the EU, and the Motorists for Themselves, which has mainly campaigned against the EU’s Green Deal.
The new government, if confirmed, is likely to bolster the populist bloc in central and eastern Europe and could strain western support for Ukraine – although Babiš has called Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to assure him of Czech support.
Pavel, who as president shares responsibility for foreign policy, also on Wednesday demanded the coalition’s programme add a statement on the government’s position on Russia’s war on Ukraine, including a commitment to fulfilling Nato obligations.
The president has previously said he would not approve any ministerial nominees who might question the Czech Republic’s EU and Nato commitments, a requirement that the far-right SPD has said it will meet by nominating independent technocrats.
