European Commission suspends part of subsidies to Agrofert companies

The European Commission has suspended payment of part of the subsidies granted to firms within the Agrofert holding, the Czech State Agricultural Intervention Fund (SZIF) has announced. The reason is an unfinished review of compliance with EU rules on preventing conflicts of interest.

According to the agency, the restriction applies only to a portion of the subsidies paid out of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Agrofert companies can still receive payments from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund without any limitations.

How long will the suspension last

SZIF says the decision is not final and can remain in force for a maximum of six months. With the Czech side's agreement, the period could be extended by another three months. This pause gives the European Commission time to complete its own review of the situation and request the necessary documents from Czech authorities.

Dispute over the trust and conflict of interest

ANO movement leader Andrej Babiš has claimed he resolved the conflict-of-interest issue back in February, when he transferred his Agrofert shares into the RSVP Trust. In June, he said he had done so "far more strictly than Czech and European law requires." Based on independent assessments, SZIF deemed the move sufficient and, from the end of April, once again allowed Agrofert companies to receive subsidies.

The European Commission, however, was not satisfied with this decision. In May, it sent a letter to Czech authorities demanding a legal assessment of the trust and guarantees that no subsidies had gone to other companies linked to Babiš.

European Public Prosecutor's investigation

At the initiative of the Pirate Party, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) took up the Agrofert subsidies case in May. Besides examining the subsidies themselves, investigators have also begun looking into the officials responsible for disbursing them.

EPPO split off part of the case and referred it to the Prague High Prosecutor's Office, which in turn appealed to the Supreme Prosecutor's Office. The latter ruled that the entire case should remain under the jurisdiction of European prosecutors, arguing that splitting the case would contradict established practice, EU rules, and Czech law.

Source: novinky.cz