Page 40 - bne_newspaper_February_02_2018

40 I Central Europe bne February 2018
Czech prime minister Andrei Babis is facing corruption charges and struggling to form a government
Babis loses vote of confidence
as EU submits fraud probe
Robert Anderson in Prague
Andrej Babis, the Czech billionaire populist, lost the confidence vote to confirm his minority one-party cabinet in power by 117 to 78 votes on January 16, with only his own Ano party supporting him.
The vote, which was expected, now leaves him as a caretaker premier until a second vote of confidence is held, but his chances of forming a government are beginning to fade.
President Milos Zeman, who just narrowly won re-election as president and a close ally, has announced that he intends to give Babis a second chance following his convincing electoral victory in October, but that he will need to show he has 101 votes before he will renominate him.
www.bne.eu
Babis’s hopes of persuading the other parties to accept him suffered a serious blow over Christmas when the EU fraud watchdog Olaf finally submitted its long awaited report into the Stork’s Nest scandal.
Babis’ government has so far refused to publish the report but it is clear
recreation centre from the EU fund programmes, meaning that the Czech state will have to cover the CZK50mn (€2.3mn) cost of the subsidies.
Stork’s Nest was initially begun by Babis’ Agrofert conglomerate but then transferred to a bearer shares owned company in 2007 so it could apply
“Seven of the other eight parties elected
in October’s general election have refused
to co-operate with the agrochemicals tycoon”
that it is critical. The government has immediately reacted by remov- ing the Stork’s Nest conference and
for EU grants designed for small and medium-sized enterprises. Agrofert then took back the Stork’s Nest proj-