Seznam, PPF and the People's Liberation Army

Ivo Lukačovič of Seznam and Petr Kellner of PPF now have one more thing in common, in addition to their multibillion net worths, offshore companies, private planes and publicly expressed friendship. They are now both in business with the People's Liberation Army. At least if we accept the definition of the Trump administration, which listed Huawei three weeks ago as one of 20 companies operating in the U.S. that are owned or controlled by the Chinese military. According to U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, there is a "compelling case that Huawei serves as an intelligence-gathering apparatus for the Chinese state." The announcement of Seznam's partnership to provide applications for Huawei's phones came just as the U.K. succumbed to Donald Trump's proposed Huawei ban. This makes it look even more likely that Lukačovič has decided to count groschen with Kellner and Huawei instead of sticking to his principles and values, to borrow the words of Senate Pres. Miloš Vystrčil.