Česky

Anticorruption barometer

Control of politicians — #2 Disclosure of contracts and other relations between the state and the entities owned by a politician or public official

If a politician or other public official declares or attest that he/she owns shares or interests in a company (firm), with the exception of those acquired at the stock market (regulated market), he/she shall be obliged to submit a statement of the company’s management whether the company is receiving public funds of any kind (public procurement, subsidy, lease, rent, sale or purchase of public property etc.). Politician or other public official shall be prohibited from any activity in the sector where those companies exercised their business (the revolving doors principle).

If it was possible to find out and prove how much those firms in which politicians and other public official own shares receive from public funds, it would be possible to directly monitor if they are not in a situation of conflict of interest (the Act on conflict of interest requires that politicians and other public officials make a declaration of honour which shares and interests in companies they own as well as the income obtained thereof – the value of those shares or interest has to be at least CZK 50 000, or 100 000 in case of multiple interests, the aggregate income must exceed in the calendar year the amount of CZK 100 000).

Sources:

Report of the European Commission on the fight against corruption in the EU, Annex Czech Republic, Annex 3, COM(2014) 38 final , p. 6 and 11
Czech Government Anti-corruption Action Plan for 2015, chap.2, p. 9
Transparency International: Curbing Corruption in Public Procurement, A Practical Guide, 2014, p. 13
Transparency International Czech Republic, Conflict of interest – Czech Republic [online], p. 4-5
Titl, V., Palanský, M., Skuhrovec, J., Analysis of gifts by legal persons to political parties, Centre for Applied Economy of the Institute of Economic Studies (Charles University in Prague), 2014
Public Money and Corruption Risks – A Comparative Analysis, Frank Bold, 2013, p. 79
Transparency International: Corruption risks in the Visegrad Countries – Visegrad Integrity System Study, 2012, p. 18
Novotný, J., Lichard, T., Palguta, J., Corruption: Not only a fiscal problem and its solutions in Kohout, P. and coll., Collection of texts of a working group for the fight against corruption, National Economic Government Council, June 2011), p. 45.
Vondráček, O., Havrda, M., 21 recipes – Anti-corruption cookbook, Recipe 1: Reducing corruption opportunities, December 2013

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Justification and sources

Update history

date	reason	effectiveness	progression
02/2017 current	The amendment of the Act on conflict of interest which entered into force in 2017 requires that a politician or other public official may not own more than a 25 % interest in a company which receives public contracts or other subsidies from public budgets.	Effectiveness 100%	Progression 90%	More
01/2017	The approved amendment of the Act on conflict of interest requires that a politician or other public official may not own more than a 25 % interest in a company which receives public contracts or other subsidies from public budgets.	Effectiveness 100%	Progression 80%	More
12/2016	The proposal of the law amending the Act on conflict of interest, which which due to the veto of the president returned to the Lower Chamber of the Parliament, requires that a politician or other public official may not own more than a 25 % interest in a company which receives public contracts or other subsidies from public budgets.	Effectiveness 100%	Progression 60%	More
11/2016	The approved amendment of the Act on conflict of interest require that a politician or other public official may not own more than a 25 % interest in a company which receives public contracts or other subsidies from public budgets.	Effectiveness 100%	Progression 80%	More
10/2016	The proposal of the law amending the Act on conflict of interest, which the Upper Chamber returned to the Lower Chamber of the Parliament, require that a politician or other public official may not own more than a 25 % interest in a company which receives public contracts or other subsidies from public budgets.	Effectiveness 100%	Progression 60%	More
09/2016	The proposal of the law amending the Act on conflict of interest which is in the Upper Chamber of the Parliament require that a politician or other public official may not own more than a 25 % interest in a company which receives public contracts or other subsidies from public budgets.	Effectiveness 100%	Progression 70%	More
08/2015	The existing Act on conflict of interest nor the proposal amending it which is in the Lower Chamber of the Parliament does not require that a politician or other public official if he/she declares that he/she owns and controls certain company would be obliged via the management of such company to disclose all contractual or other relations of such company with the state or other public institutions.	Effectiveness 0%	Progression 0%	More