Association: Czech companies still have no binding agreements for Dukovany, risking limited involvement

No binding agreements have yet been concluded between Czech companies and South Korea’s KHNP, the preferred supplier for the new nuclear units at Dukovany. Jiří Nouza, president of the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs, told reporters today. He warned that Czech companies’ involvement in the project could be very limited, with the previously touted 60% participation by Czech suppliers also at risk of not being achieved.

„There are no legally binding agreements yet,“ Nouza said today.

According to him, the involvement of Czech suppliers in the Dukovany project remains at the level of promises or, at best, non-binding memorandums.

When selecting the South Korean company last year, the government said that KHNP had pledged in its bid to give Czech suppliers a share of up to 60% in the project. Industry and Trade Minister Lukáš Vlček (STAN) later acknowledged, however, that the precise involvement of Czech industry would not be part of the final contract between ČEZ and KHNP. The Czech Republic will nevertheless push for KHNP to fulfil the commitment it made during the tender, he said.

However, the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs says there is a real risk that Czech companies will be confined to lower tiers of the entire supply chain. „There is a risk that Czech suppliers will be left with nothing but the so-called picked-over bones, and that will be a major problem,“ Nouza noted. Any resulting profits would be correspondingly limited, and it would also be difficult to make use of domestic technologies or research.

Czech companies’ representatives had previously hoped that the construction of nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic could have a huge impact on domestic industry, with participation in the project giving them key references for other projects in Europe. But according to the association, the current situation is not heading in that direction.

KHNP won the nuclear tender, in which the Czech government preferred it to France’s EDF. The project currently covers the construction of two reactors at Dukovany, the first of which is expected to be completed in 2036. ČEZ, which is responsible for the tender, is now negotiating the terms of the final contract with the South Korean company. It is expected to be signed by the end of March this year.

Vlček made a working visit to South Korea in recent days, with the construction project at Dukovany and the involvement of Czech companies as its main focus, he said. „With South Korea’s acting president and prime minister, Choi Sang-mok, we discussed not only the completion of Dukovany and the involvement of Czech industry, but also further cooperation between our countries—not just in terms of additional investment and stronger trade ties, but also in areas such as research, development and innovation,“ the minister said. According to him, the construction project at Dukovany also has the full support of South Korea’s opposition.

The construction of new nuclear units in the Czech Republic is expected to be the largest domestic contract in history. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred option of building two reactors at Dukovany is 400 billion crowns. Over the next three to five years, however, ČEZ is also expected, under a government decision, to negotiate with the South Koreans an option to build two more units at Temelín.