80 days to stop Babiš

Truck drivers protested in Moscow last week against a new national highway toll. Not only the roadblock itself was unusual, but also the way the drivers directed their ire at Igor Rotenberg, the Putinite who was awarded the GPS-based toll contract. He was given a license to print money. Czech companies might take note for when Petr Kellner is granted the toll concession in a few years. In the meantime, company owners can direct their ire at Andrej Babiš. His new invoice-matching system is potentially an even larger printing press. Under the new system, companies will be required for the first time to send their customer lists to the tax authority. No one will be the wiser if an analyst copies a company's trade secrets and sells them. No one will be the wiser if a corporate raider then uses the information to steal a company Russian-style. Corporate bosses aren't very disposed toward civil disobedience. If they decide to make an exception this time, they have 80 days to do so. The first return is due on Feb. 25, and one filing is all it takes to expose corporate secrets forever.