Is Prague Airport about to be privatised?

The Babiš government is weighing partial privatisations of explosives maker Explosia and Letiště Praha, the operator of Václav Havel Airport, but the Prime Minister and First Deputy PM Karel Havlíček (both ANO) are advancing markedly different justifications for the sales.

The plan returned to the agenda this week after Havlíček told Bloomberg in an interview published Thursday that the government is on a path to revive the long-dormant sales, and that ministers could settle on whether to proceed with both by early next year.

Babiš first raised the prospect publicly around two months ago, telling MF Dnes he was considering at least partial privatisation of both firms and linking the move directly to the pressures of the 2027 state budget, which the government has since set at a record CZK 389 billion deficit. "We could try the exchange next year, and Explosia probably basically too, because the demands on next year's budget are large," he said, floating a listing of roughly 40% of Letiště Praha on the Prague Stock Exchange while the state retains majority control.

Havlíček, who as industry and trade minister oversees both companies, has told the Chamber of Deputies' industry committee that no formal decision has been taken and that the government is "only evaluating variants" – a markedly more cautious framing than the prime minister's. Notably, Havlíček also served as industry minister in 2019, when he rejected an earlier proposal to sell the then-loss-making Explosia; he told MPs the calculus has since changed both because the company now posts record results and because Russia's invasion of Ukraine altered the strategic environment for a state-owned munitions producer.

Babiš has cast the sales as a way to raise money against a stretched budget. Havlíček on the other hand has explicitly said any proceeds would be channelled into transport, energy and defence investment rather than used to narrow the structural deficit, which is directly at odds with the prime minister's original framing. His stated case for divesting Explosia rests instead on industrial logic: the Pardubice-based firm, he argues, lacks integration into a broader state-owned defence-industrial supply chain, has no direct contract with the Czech armed forces, and faces a competing production facility now being built by its own largest commercial customer. These circumstances, he says, make a strategic partner more valuable to the firm than continued state ownership.

Explosia: from Agrofert to the state, and now to a buyer

Explosia has operated in Pardubice since 1920. Notably, it was owned by the Agrofert conglomerate – the business empire founded by Babiš – until 2002, when ownership passed to the state; the prime minister's own former holding company is thus part of the firm's ownership history, though not a live conflict-of-interest issue today given Agrofert's trust-fund arrangement. In the Bloomberg interview, Havlíček said the state is weighing offloading between 60% and 80% of its stake, and that roughly six to ten serious European players have expressed interest, with domestic reporting naming Colt CZ Group, France's Eurenco and CSG — the group controlled by billionaire Michal Strnad – among the contenders. Babiš has said any sale would include pre-emption arrangements giving the government final say over the buyer.

Letiště Praha: IPO or share sale – a distinction that still isn't settled

For the airport, the mechanism remains undecided in a way that matters for the budget arithmetic. The government has not yet clarified whether a stock-market listing would involve the state selling existing shares – with proceeds flowing directly into the budget – or the airport issuing new shares, which would capitalise Letiště Praha itself rather than the treasury. Havlíček has said an IPO "can be a profitable solution in some situations" but stressed it remains "one of the possibilities, not yet a comprehensive plan."