Babiš's advisers cost the budget more than Fiala's did in an entire year — record-holder Vachatová earned half a million crowns

The Czech government office has announced that in the first half of 2025 it paid advisers to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš a total of 2,111,056 crowns — more than former Prime Minister Petr Fiala spent on his advisers during the whole of 2024, when the sum came to 1,465,675 crowns.

Like Fiala, Babiš has 11 advisers on his team. Three of them — Richard Brabec, Jan Rovenský and Darek Kisela — work for free: Brabec, governor of the Ústí Region and a former minister, advises on environmental issues, Rovenský handles media communication, and Kisela deals with parliamentary and government affairs. The rest are paid by the hour and have logged tens or even hundreds of hours over the past six months.

Vachatová's record rate

The most expensive adviser for the government office is Natálie Vachatová — her hourly rate of 1,150 crowns is the highest among all the advisers. Over six months she earned 555,039 crowns before tax. According to her, she advises the prime minister on freedom of speech, the transposition of EU directives and other legislative matters, as well as carrying out other tasks assigned by the head of government.

Government spokeswoman Karla Mráčková confirmed that all advisers provide consultations within their fields and carry out additional tasks — usually expert opinions, analyses and preparation of materials. It was previously reported that Vachatová, who used to work as an analyst for a freedom-of-speech organisation, took part in drafting the controversial bill on "foreign ties" targeting non-governmental organisations, together with MPs Jindřich Rajchl, Libor Vondráček (both SPD) and Radek Vondráček (ANO). The bill was later rejected.

Who earns less

Compared to Vachatová, other advisers — often top-level experts in their fields — earn considerably less. Orientalist and migration adviser Petr Pelikán receives 350 crowns an hour — for 313 hours worked between January and June he earned 121,457 crowns. Law professor Vilém Kaun, who advises on social policy, received 97,000 crowns for 194 hours of work.

Health advisers, associate professors Hana Studentová and Jiří Votruba, are paid 650 crowns an hour each — they received 130,000 and 273,000 crowns respectively. Vladislav Smrž, responsible for competitiveness and climate, earns 1,000 crowns an hour and made 80,000 crowns. Economic adviser Jaroslav Ungerman values his hour at 810 crowns and received almost 384,000 crowns.

Babiš's second-highest-paid adviser is Michaela Pobořilová, with a rate of 980 crowns an hour — over six months she earned 470,000 crowns helping the prime minister on legislative and legal security matters.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz