ÚOHS: Czech nuclear tender was conducted properly; EDF and Westinghouse can appeal

The tender for the construction of new nuclear reactors at the Dukovany power plant was conducted properly, the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) ruled at first instance on complaints from EDF and Westinghouse. The Authority announced the decision in a press release today. ÚOHS considered the companies' complaints against the nuclear tender in two separate proceedings. In both cases, the antitrust authority had previously issued interim measures barring the signing of a contract with South Korea's KHNP to build a new nuclear power unit at Dukovany. The ban remains in force for now. It would cease to apply if the companies did not file appeals, or once the chairman of the Authority rules on them. CTK is seeking comment from the companies concerned.

„Proceedings on the applications by both companies (EDF and Westinghouse) were discontinued for the most part, while the applications were dismissed in the remaining parts. The decisions are not final, and the parties to the proceedings may appeal to the chairman of the Authority,“ the Authority said in a press release.

Westinghouse challenged the fact that ČEZ, the company responsible for the contract as the contracting authority, had proceeded outside the scope of the law under the so-called security exception. „The Authority discontinued the administrative proceedings on this point because the company had to file its complaint against the use of the exception no later than 15 days after learning that this procedure had been used, which happened in March 2022. However, the complaint was not delivered to the contracting authority until August 1, 2024,“ ÚOHS wrote.

In their complaints, both companies said that the Foreign Subsidies Regulation had been breached. The Authority dismissed the applications on this point because they did not challenge a procedure that the contracting authority is required to follow under the Public Procurement Act.

EDF and Westinghouse also described the contracting authority's procedure as unlawful, arguing, among other things, that it had failed to observe the basic principles of public procurement, particularly in connection with the selection of a preferred supplier. „The Authority also discontinued the administrative proceedings on this point because complaints cannot be filed against specific actions taken by the contracting authority in awarding a public contract outside a procurement procedure under the exception in Section 29(a) of the Public Procurement Act (that is, against individual steps taken in the procurement process),“ ÚOHS said.

The government decided in July to build two new nuclear reactors. It preferred the bid from South Korea's KHNP over EDF's bid, while another bidder, Westinghouse, had already been excluded from the competition.

The first of the new reactors at Dukovany is expected to be completed in 2036. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred plan to build two reactors is 400 billion korunas.

The partly state-owned energy company ČEZ is now negotiating a contract with the South Korean company, which the parties are expected to sign by the end of March 2025.