Off the wire
• Roundup: Angela Merkel calls for European unity  • Bus accident kills 8 in Egypt  • Albanian writer Dritero Agolli dies at 85  • U.S. dollar rallies after upbeat jobs report  • Oil prices rise on output cuts  • Pentagon to buy 90 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin  • Spanish banks start process to give floor clauses money back  • 2nd LD: Iran vows to counteract fresh U.S. sanctions  • Serbian FM warns of repeated migrant crisis  • Namibian First Lady stresses sex education for girls  
You are here: 　 Home

Czech Finance Minister transfers property to comply with new law

Xinhua, February 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

Czech Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Andrej Babis said in a statement on Friday on Czech Television (CT) that he has put his shares of his companies in trust funds to comply with a new law that will take effect on Feb. 9.

Babis was the only shareholder of Agrofert and SynBiol companies.

To abide by the new conflict of interest law, Babis said he has put 90 percent shares of the Agrofert and 100 percent shares of SynBiol companies in trust funds. The remaining 10 percent shares of Agrofert was placed in the other.

The fund's operation will be supervised by a three-member board including Babis's partner Monika Babisova.

The conflict of interest law bars the access to public contracts and state subsidies for the firms controlled by ministers. The law is opposed by Babis, which he said goes counter to European law by restricting his right to possess property.

Czech President Milos Zeman vetoed the bill but the veto was overridden by the Chamber of Deputies a few weeks ago. Babis said previously that he is ready to get rid of his company shares by the end of January if the Czech parliament overrides the presidential veto.

According to a report of Forbes magazine in October 2016, Babis is the second richest person in the Czech Republic following PPF investment group owner Petr Kellner. Endit