Andrej Babiš

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

2 September 1954 Bratislava, Czechoslovakia

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Incumbent

Czech politician For the Croatian songwriter, see Andrej Babić. Andrej Babiš (Czech pronunciation: ; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician serving as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since December 2017 and the founding leader of ANO 2011 since 2012. He previously served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister from 2014 to 2017. Prior to entering politics, he was a businessman. Born and raised in Slovakia, Babiš moved to the Czech Republic following the Velvet Revolution. During a lengthy business career, he rose to become the second richest man in the Czech Republic, with an estimated net worth of about $4.04 billion according to Bloomberg. Much of this wealth came from his time as CEO and owner of the Agrofert Group, which owns two of the largest Czech newspapers, Mladá fronta DNES and Lidové noviny. Babiš entered politics in 2012, forming ANO 2011. Despite being a new party, ANO 2011 performed strongly at the 2013 election, finishing just three seats behind winners ČSSD. He was duly appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. In May 2017, Sobotka sacked Babiš following a crisis triggered by allegations that Babiš avoided paying taxes when CEO of Agrofert. Following the 2017 election, ANO 2011 comfortably emerged as the largest party, although with no route to a majority due to the poor performance of potential coalition partners. Despite this, Babiš was appointed Prime Minister on 6 December, and a week later formed a minority government composed of ANO 2011 figures as well as independents. He became the oldest and wealthiest person ever to become Prime Minister, as well as the first Prime Minister in the history of the Czech Republic to be from a different party than ODS or ČSSD. Babiš is also the first Prime Minister who was born outside the Czech Republic and whose native language is not Czech. On 16 January 2018, his government lost motion of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, requiring Babiš to form a second government, which became the first since the fall of Communism in 1989 to rely on support from the Communist Party. Babiš had been under investigation by both Czech Police and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) from 2015 to 2017, amid allegations that an anonymous company he controlled unlawfully received a €2m subsidy from the European Regional Development Fund. In September 2017, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity after a police request in connection with the case and Babiš was formally charged on 9 October 2017. OLAF concluded its investigation in December 2017, stating it had found irregularities and endorsed the steps taken by the Czech Police. However, due to Babiš's reelection, his immunity from prosecution was restored and the Chamber of Deputies voted again to lift it on 19 January 2018. Babiš has been the subject of sustained criticism from political opponents and the media regarding a number of issues, including alleged conflicts of interest, his past role in the communist secret police, and allegations of intimidation of opponents. His tenure in office and policies have sparked numerous protests. Despite this, Babiš remains one of the most popular politicians in the Czech Republic.