PRAGUE, November 17. /TASS/. Czech President Petr Pavel has not ruled out that he will not be able to appoint billionaire and leader of the political movement ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens) Andrej Babis as prime minister if he fails to resolve the issue of his business interests conflicting with those of the state.

"If the chairman of the ANO movement Andrej Babis cannot resolve his conflict of interest in a satisfactory manner, then by appointing him prime minister, I will be complicit in creating an illegal situation," the president said in an interview with radio station Radiozhurnal.

The ANO won the October parliamentary elections by a large margin. Pavel then instructed Babis to form a new government. However, if the conflict of interest is not resolved, then, according to the head of state, the movement should find another candidate for prime minister.

The Czech media quotes local legislation as saying a candidate for the prime minister's post must own less than a quarter of the shares of his or her companies, and those firms should be deprived of the right to receive state subsidies, while Babis owns the largest agro-industrial holding in the Czech Republic, Agrofert.

The law gives Babis 30 days after his appointment as prime minister to resolve the conflict of interests. Babis said a few days ago that he would announce a way to resolve it immediately before his appointment as head of government, and since the president wants this, an explanation will be provided to the public.