{"id":6718,"date":"2018-12-03T10:42:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T09:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praguebusinessjournal.com\/?p=6718"},"modified":"2018-12-03T10:42:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T09:42:50","slug":"babis-faces-more-legal-trouble-over-use-of-eu-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praguebusinessjournal.com\/babis-faces-more-legal-trouble-over-use-of-eu-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Babis Faces More Legal Trouble Over Use Of EU Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 faced renewed pressure over his business dealings on Saturday (1 December) after an EU legal document said he has a conflict of interest due to links to agribusiness companies that received European funds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The document, which was seen by Reuters, could stir up political turmoil in the Central European country, where massive protests took place on 23 November after the minority government survived a no-confidence vote over an alleged fraud involving EU funds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Babi\u0161, who before becoming premier in December 2017 served as finance minister since 2014, denied any wrongdoing on Saturday following media reports about the confidential document, which is meant to inform decisions by the European Commission.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

The legal opinion, dated 19 November, said \u201cthe situation of Mr Babi\u0161 qualifies as a conflict of interest,\u201d because he could \u201cinfluence\u201d decisions on the use of EU funds of which companies linked to him had benefited.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It added that the alleged legal breach could require the reimbursement of some of the funds and said Babi\u0161 should sever all ties to the companies involved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to the document, Babi\u0161 was the \u201csole beneficiary\u201d of two trusts into which his shares in the firms Agrofert and the Agrofert group were transferred. The trusts were set up by Babi\u0161 in 2017 to address concerns about possible conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The companies, through a network of dozens of agriculture, chemical and food businesses, received EU funds worth \u20ac82 million in 2017 and many more in previous years.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in no conflict of interest, I act strictly by the law,\u201d Babi\u0161 told Reuters on Saturday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t control or direct the trust funds, because I don\u2019t even have time for it, being fully occupied by the prime ministerial job,\u201d he said, adding that he had not seen the legal opinion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The document, however, said that even if he were not in a position of control, the situation would still qualify as a conflict of interest \u201cbecause he has an interest in the economic success\u201d of those companies since he receives economic benefit from their activities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next steps<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The legal paper suggested the setting up of a blind trust as a way to end the conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Babi\u0161 and his family should \u201csever all relations\u201d with the two companies, the opinion said. Babi\u0161\u2019 wife is one of the beneficial owners of the trust funds and sits in the board that oversees their management, the EU legal document says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An Agrofert spokesman said the company had no information about any probe and had not been contacted about the matter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAndrej Babi\u0161 did everything that the Czech legal system required,\u201d the Agrofert spokesman added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The European Commission said it was \u201cclosely monitoring\u201d the case.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst it is for the national authorities in the first instance to take the necessary action, the Commission also has a responsibility to protect the financial interests of the Union,\u201d a spokesman said, adding that Brussels had contacted Czech authorities about the matter earlier this week.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Philippe Lamberts, who leads the Greens grouping in the European Parliament, called for an immediate suspension of EU funds to the companies involved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Czech Parliament and Commission cannot stand by and let this situation further denigrate the standing of the Czech government and the EU,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Via Euractiv<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 faced renewed pressure over his business dealings on Saturday (1 December) after an EU legal document said he has a conflict of interest due to links to agribusiness companies that received European funds.   The document, which was seen by Reuters, could stir up political turmoil in the Central … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[15],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nBabis Faces More Legal Trouble Over Use Of EU Funds - Prague Business Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praguebusinessjournal.com\/babis-faces-more-legal-trouble-over-use-of-eu-funds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Babis Faces More Legal Trouble Over Use Of EU Funds - Prague Business Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 faced renewed pressure over his business dealings on Saturday (1 December) after an EU legal document said he has a conflict of interest due to links to agribusiness companies that received European funds.   The document, which was seen by Reuters, could stir up political turmoil in the Central ... 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