When Barbora Tachecí asked Vladimír Mlynář of PPF in MFD on Nov. 13, 2013, what he thought of the situation at Czech TV, he replied that he was sorry but would almost consider it a conflict of interest to comment on this, because of Petr Dvořák. The interview took place two years after Dvořák was chosen to head the public station and almost a decade after he had stopped working for Petr Kellner of PPF. But as businessman Richard Benýšek told HN earlier this month, a person does not voluntarily separate from Kellner, and once a PPF man, always a PPF man. Kellner himself let it pass without comment when Robert Čásenský and Jiří Štický of MFD joked with him in April 2012 that he no longer needed to invest in the media, because he had Dvořák at ČT. Dvořák's position at the station is now under threat, and he no longer has Kellner to run interference for him. Ivana Svobodová of Respekt said on Czech TV last night that ČT Councilor Hana Lipovská was being protected by the police because she felt a threat mainly from Dvořák and the business circles he moves in. Once a PPF man, always a PPF man? [ Czech Republic TV Nova Television ]
Glossary of difficult words
to run interference for - to intervene on someone's behalf.