Prague, March 22 (CTK) – Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka considers it unnecessary to exchange letters with Finance Minister Andrej Babis about the lower house’s call on him to refute a tax evasion suspicion, he told reporters on Wednesday, adding that Babis should primarily explain his transactions to the public.
This is important for the reputation not only of Babis, but of the whole government that declares fighting tax evasion its priority, Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said after the cabinet’s meeting.
Last week, the Chamber of Deputies called on Deputy PM, ANO chairman and billionaire businessman Babis to refute by end-April “serious” suspicions of tax evasion in connection with his deals with Agrofert which he owned until recently.
Babis is criticised for the purchase of one-crown bonds, issued by the Agrofert concern in 2012, for 1.5 billion crowns in 2013. This type of bonds was not subject to taxation.
After the MPs’s call, Babis wrote to Sobotka that they accused him of fraud without any evidence and wanted to judge him. He called such behaviour “a lynch.”
Sobotka said he had shortly discussed this matter with Babis on Wednesday.
“I have mainly asked him to explain the whole affair to the public as thoroughly as possible,” Sobotka said, adding that the reputation of Babis and the whole government is at stake.
“We have been pushing measures to eliminate grey economy for tree years,” Sobotka pointed out.
This is why a minister cannot face a suspicion of committing “a tax optimisation,” he said.
“I expect Babis to use the deadline he received from the Chamber of Deputies to explain everything to the public,” he added.
In a letter to Sobotka, released to CTK, Babis wrote that fraud is a criminal act on which only a court can decide. He said the lawmakers had appropriated the roles of both a prosecutor and police and wanted to try him.
Babis also wrote that he would react to the Chamber of Deputies’ call in writing by the end of April. He said he was convinced that he had already explained his incomes to the public.
The Agrofert Group published an advertisement in three national dailies on Wednesday in which it protested against the lower house’s behaviour in the case of Agrofert’s and Babis’s tax affairs. Agrofert dismissed the statements about tax optimisation or frauds and claims that all transactions that MPs have discussed were in full compliance with law.
The discussed issuance of one-crown bonds from 2012 were also in harmony with law, Agrofert said.
