Final Word from Monday, February 6, 2017
Andrej Babiš is now an ex-company man. He transferred Agrofert and SynBiol to trust funds and must now fend for himself, like so many top managers before him who worked all their adult life for an organization but then had to suddenly start paying their own bills. Why would Agrofert file a complaint with the EU Commission about the conflict-of-interest law, as Babiš announced a week ago, given that its own corporate rights aren't encroached upon and Babiš now has "nothing to do with the company"? He even gave up his chairmanship of the sup. board of SKW Stickstoffwerke of Germany. When Bohuslav Sobotka called on Babiš last year to leave that position, Babiš said he couldn't because Agrofert's bankers required him to be there as a loan condition. Not being a company man has its drawbacks, but it must be a huge relief for a lifelong businessman like Babiš not to have to worry anymore about something as irksome as loan covenants. [Czech Republic supervisory AB Private Trust I II Piesteritz banks]
Glossary of difficult words
to fend for oneself - to look after and provide for oneself, without any help from others;
to encroach upon/on - to intrude on (a person's territory, rights, personal life, etc.);
drawback - a feature that renders something less acceptable; a disadvantage or problem;
irksome - irritating; annoying;
loan covenant - a condition that a borrower must meet in order to adhere to the terms of a loan agreement and to avoid being in default.