ANDREJ BABIŠ

Andrej Babiš was born in 1954 in Bratislava. He graduated from the University of Economics in Bratislava.

In 1993, he founded Agrofert, currently the largest Czech agricultural, food and chemical holding, which he owned in 100%. In 2016, Andrej Babiš transferred all the assets of his firms to two trust funds.

In the autumn of 2011, Andrej Babiš spoke in the media about system corruption that has grown through public administration. His speech attracted the response of thousands of citizens and gave a spontaneous rise to the initiative Action for Dissatisfied Citizens. Based on their requirements, a call was compiled, summarizing the key ideas that lent content to the ANO association which was established subsequently in November 2011.

As the number of supporters grew, voices were heard, recommending its direct involvement in politics. In May, it was registered as a political movement that can take part in democratic parliamentary elections. It received nearly a million votes in the early election in 2013, which was the highest number for a new political entity in the history of the Czech Republic. The consecutive regular parliamentary election in 2017 was won by ANO with more than 1.5 million votes.

Andrej Babiš was appointed Prime Minister in December 2017. He formed a minority government composed of ANO party members and independents which lost a confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies. After resigning, Andrej Babiš started negotiations about a future government the following day and succeeded to form a new government in June 2018.

Andrej Babiš speaks English, French, and  German.

Free participation for members of MCI Alumni & Friends, students, faculty and invited guests.