Penam is a bakery company of the Agrofert group whose Zelená louka bakery received a subsidy for a toast bread production line.
Penam is a bakery company belonging to the Agrofert group. It operates the Zelená louka bakery.[1]
The subsidy of 100 million crowns for a toast bread production line at this bakery was paid out under national pre-financing: the state first disbursed the money and only afterwards claimed it from the European Commission. Following audits, the Commission barred the Czech authorities from submitting subsidy claims of companies from the Agrofert holding for reimbursement and did not repay the project retroactively. According to Seznam Zprávy, the inspections concluded that the line was neither unique nor innovative, as representatives of the bakery had stated, because a sister company in Germany had used the same technology earlier.[1]
State prosecutor Adam Bašný, before leaving office in June 2026, filed an indictment accusing the bakery and two persons of subsidy fraud and of attempted damage to the financial interests of the European Union. The Krajský soud v Praze is to hear the case in November 2026. Agrofert's management and Andrej Babiš have long rejected any wrongdoing, say that the project met the subsidy rules and describe the prosecution as contrived. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been trying to recover the subsidy since autumn 2021 and has not yet received the money.[1]
According to iRozhlas.cz, the European Commission asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to confirm whether the subsidy was paid exclusively from the state budget and to provide information on the remedial and financial measures taken. The ministry has two months to respond.[1]
Chronology
- — The European Commission asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade in a letter to confirm whether the subsidy of 100 million crowns for the Penam bakery line was paid exclusively from the state budget, as iRozhlas.cz reported on 23 October 2026. → Seznam Zprávy iROZHLAS
Sources
- Seznam Zprávy — 23 October 2026