Czech billionaire Andrej Babiš is about to return to power after gaining a decisive victory in the parliamentary elections, promising to cancel four years of austerity and to reduce military support granted to Ukraine. Babiš's populist party obtained 36% of the votes – the best result in the history of the formation – according to data published on Saturday by the Czech Statistics Office, after counting about 95% of the polling stations. The coalition of his main rival, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, obtained 23%. Campaign with a message inspired by Donald Trump-«Czechs in the first place»-the former prime minister, aged 71, crossed the East-European country with the promise to relaunch economic growth, reduce taxes for companies and end a period of strict austerity. Taking advantage of the frustration of voters towards the way the current government has managed the cost of life, Babiš promised that it will end the policies who, in his opinion, impoverish the Czechs-and that he will promote the position of the country in Europe through a «transaction» approach, based on interests, rather than the values promoted by Brussels. Two smaller parties, which could give Babiš a way to a parliamentary majority, have obtained enough votes to enter the legislative, which positions the billionaire for a possible return to the government, after leaving the opposition in the last four years. A return by Babiš would add a new name to the list of popular leaders in the region – such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak Robert Fico – who criticized the institutions of the European Union. Although in the previous mandate Babiš has adopted a more pragmatic leadership, he promised to deviate from the EU line in terms of defense expenses and immigration policy. The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, announced that the discussions for the formation of a coalition will begin. Babiš reported that the far -right parties – freedom and direct democracy and the Party of Drivers – would be his favorite government partners.Romanian business
Andrej Babiš, the former prime minister of the Czech Republic, has just expanded his agricultural affairs in Romania. Through the East Grain cereal trader in Cluj, in the shareholding in 2023, he bought 90% of the shares of Maragro Group. It produces cereals and oil plants on 9,600 hectares in Timiş County and has a sunflower seed processing factory, as well as a seed station. The Italian Marco Chiaradia, the founder of Maragro Group, remains with 10% of the business and will deal with the operational side. Babiš, also has a company in Timiş county, the first in which he invested in Romania, namely Fert Tradero, which distributes fertilizers, mainly in the west of the country. It had a turnover of 132 million lei last year, similar to the previous year. Andrej Babiš, in the second part of 2023, took over the majority shares (65%) of the East Grin cereal trader. East Grain is an interesting business in terms of differentiating from other sector businesses and, above all, compared to Ameropa, CHS, Cargill or Cofco multinationals, buying freight or companies that collect from small farmers and directly selling processors from Central and Western Europe, who have feed factories, oil or bioethanol. About 50% of the marketed cereals go to processors in Romania, according to the latest data provided for ZF. The trader collaborates with over 700 small, medium and large farmers and focuses on those with 50, 200 or 500 hectares, predominantly in the East portfolio.The electoral speech pulls the market down Andrej Babiš said he wants the nationalization of čez, a company mostly owned by the Czech state, along with minority shareholders in the private sector. The current model worked well, because the stock exchange allows careful supervision of the company and offers investors some of its success. This strengthens the pressure for efficiency. Babiš also suggested that a forced purchase of minority shareholders may not include a price premium, which is standard on developed markets for such transactions. There is also the risk that political statements will cause the price of shares, which would make the acquisition by the state cheaper. This would prejudice the minority shareholders and would affect the entire capital market, undermining its credibility in front of international investors, the XTB analysts also emphasize.
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