Czech populist Babis to become prime minister next week

By Jan Lopatka

PRAGUE, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Czech election winner and populist ANO party chief Andrej Babis will be appointed prime minister on December 9, the country's president said on Thursday, after Babis said he would shift his Agrofert business group to an independently governed trust structure.

President Petr Pavel had said he would be prepared to appoint Babis, 71, once Babis declared how he would resolve the conflict of interest he would face as both the head of government and owner of a business empire.

The ANO, part of the far-right Patriots for Europe in the European Parliament, came first in the October parliamentary election. It is forming a government with the far-right, anti-EU and pro-Russian SPD party and the Motorists party, which campaigned against EU policies to reduce carbon emissions.

"The president perceives the solution chosen by Andrej Babis as a public commitment made not just to him, but above all to the entire Czech public," the presidential office said.

The new government will take over once the president appoints ministers to be nominated by the new prime minister. Pavel has flagged that he was opposed to one candidate, but that may not necessarily delay the process.

Babis intends to take over in time to represent the country at the EU's December 18-19 summit.

FOREVER 

Babis is one of the richest Czechs, worth $4.3 billion according to Forbes magazine, thanks to his ownership of Agrofert. The group's businesses include around 230 companies producing fertilisers, urea, plastics and biofuels across central Europe, as well as entities that produce grains, cattle, salami and bread.

"I decided to irreversibly give up the Agrofert company, with which I will have nothing in common and never own it again," Babis said in a video message on Facebook, saying that the move fulfilled the president's request.

Agrofert employs close to 30,000 people and is a large recipient of European Union funding for farmers, as well as subsidies for innovations and investment-related tax relief from governments.

Czech courts as well as EU bodies determined that Babis had a conflict of interest when he was previously prime minister in 2017-2021 and Agrofert was parked in trust funds.

Babis said on Thursday that the new arrangement was designed to satisfy Czech and European regulations.

He said the trust would be governed by an independently appointed administrator and protector, and he would not be its beneficiary. It will pass to his children upon his death, Babis said. He said the solution went beyond legal requirements.     

Babis has declared his government will raise pensions and salaries, contest an EU pact meant to regulate immigration across the 27-nation bloc and oppose implementing an EU levy on use of fossil fuels for household heating.

He has also vowed to limit military aid for Ukraine but rejected calls by the SPD partners to hold referendums on leaving the EU or NATO. 

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, Editing by Timothy Heritage)