Agrofert is a Czech conglomerate holding company headquartered in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It operates

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

and

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

industries in the

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and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

with over 250 subsidiary companies. Most of them are owned directly by AGROFERT, a.s., the minor part of the portfolio consists of companies in which the maternal company has substantial influence. The companies of AGROFERT, a.s. operate mostly in central Europe: in the

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Furthermore, it operates in another 18 countries and 4 continents. In 2012 the consolidated turnover of the company reached 132.5 billion Kč. AGROFERT, a.s. is one of the biggest companies in the

. Agricultural companies of the conglomerate manage 386,1 square miles of land in the Czech Republic. (Majority of the land is rented, that means 1,26 % of Czech land or 2,84 % of Czech arable land.)

Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech businessman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as the Finance Minister of the Cze ...

has directed the conglomerate until January 2014 and owned it until 2017, he was forced to transfer ownership of company to two

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

s AB private trust I and AB private trust II controlled by his family and lawyers in order to comply with the new

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

legislation passed by the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In 2017 the conglomerate employed 33 thousand people, 22 thousand of them in CR.

History

Agrofert was founded by Czech state company Petrimex (where

worked as salesman), on January 25, 1993, and in its current form on July 1, 2000. The company was founded in 1993 by Petrimex.

was its

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

until January 2014 when he became

Finance Minister of the Czech Republic The Finance Minister of the Czech Republic is the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic which is concerned with financial and monetary matters. The Finance Minister is a member of Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Prime Min ...

, and also its sole owner until 2017. In November 2013, Agrofert bought Londa, which owns Rádio Impuls, Rádio Rock Zone 105.9 and Český Impuls. Speculations in January 2014 also indicated that the holding company was considering buying Prima or Nova television. In June 2022, it was announced that Borealis is to sell its fertilizers division to Agrofert for €810m.

Financials

References

External links

{{Authority control Chemical companies of the Czech Republic Privately held companies of the Czech Republic Agriculture companies established in 1993 Chemical companies established in 1993 Companies based in Prague Czech brands Andrej Babiš Agriculture companies of the Czech Republic Czech companies established in 1993