The European Union is reportedly preparing to audit Agrofert, a company owned by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The news comes one week after EU lawmakers backed a resolution calling on the European Commission to act against suspected conflicts of interest involving Babiš and halt funding to his former business empire, Agrofert.
As reported by the Prague Monitor, the auditors will check the company’s records of EU subsidies granted to Agrofert over the past six years. The EU will check whether Babiš’ position as prime minister places him in a conflict of interest over his involvement with Agrofert.
According to the Reuters news agency, Babis last year placed Agrofert, founded in the 1990s and comprising around 200 food production, agriculture, chemicals and media companies, into trust funds to meet Czech conflict of interest laws.
Critics say this is not enough as he is still the beneficiary of the trust funds that hold a company that receives tens of millions of euros a year in farming subsidies and development programmes.
