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26 I Cover story
According to Podstatzky-Thonsern, who is also the first deputy of the Association of Municipal and Private Forest Owners, the large companies, who received the biggest share of state contracts for for- estry work, such as the companies in the Agrofert holding, actually profit from the bark beetle infestation. They are get- ting even more contracts now, as more infested trees have to be cut down.
“Maybe that’s why it is so hard to change the tendering system. The criteria are set by the state; if Agrofert has its people in all the important places, the rules will never change.”
The Agrofert-controlled Uniles actually views the possibility of the change in the tendering system as a major threat to its business.
“We have invested a lot of money, bought new equipment, employed a large number of people. We need a long- term partnership with the state. If the tendering system changes, our business structure will be threatened,” Uniles’ Jelinek told bne Intellinews.
Babis’s conflict of interest
Although it is hard to prove that Babis can actually – directly or indirectly – influ- ence the policy of state-owned Czech Forests, at the end of the day he still is the prime minister of the country and
the leader of the strongest political party. Some may argue that this fact is immate- rial, as he no longer officially has any ties to Agrofert. However, that remains in dispute. According to the Czech chapter of watchdog group Transparency Interna-
bne December 2018 The leader of the Czech Pirate Party
Ivan Bartos accused Babis in a recent TV debate of being too greedy. “There is a risk that because of your greediness the EU will stop all subsidies for the Czech Republic,” Bartos cried on Czech state
www.bne.eu
“If Agrofert has its people in all the important places, the rules will never change”
tional, Babis still in de facto control of the company, since he is “the founder and 100% end-user of benefits” of the two trusts overseeing the firm.
Certainly Babis’ political opponents, such as the members of the Czech Pirate Party, are convinced that Babis is break- ing the law.
“There are two separate laws: one is the so called ‘Lex Babis’, an amendment to the existing conflict of interest legisla- tion from February 2017, which is still in force. Then there is the new EU directive from August 2018. We say that Andrej Babis is breaking both of these laws. This means that Agrofert is receiving both EU subsidies and state contracts illegally,” Petr Fojtik from the analytical team of the Czech Pirate Party told bne Intellinews.
TV. Babis’ conflict of interest is currently being investigated by the European Parliament’s budget committee.
Babis described the initiative of Transparency International as being “politically motivated.” According to him, the organisation is a “corrupted NGO”, and its director David Ondracka is “a liar who takes money from politicians.”
As for the Czech Pirate Party, the third largest party in the parliament, Babis doesn’t have anything nice to say either.
“That is one lie after another. I’ve com- plied with all the rules; I have nothing to do with the company. You are denounc- ers. You are harming the Czech Repub- lic. You are willing to harm the state just because of me.”