Court to hear EDF's lawsuit over Czech nuclear tender ruling on June 25

The Regional Court in Brno will hear on June 25 a lawsuit by French company EDF against a decision by the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition, which rejected its objections to the nuclear tender for new units at Dukovany. Acting court spokesperson Martina Charvátová provided the information from the Infosoud database in response to a query from the Czech News Agency. The court blocked the signing of a contract with Korea's KHNP, which won the tender, in connection with EDF's lawsuit. The winning bid is valid until the end of June, and the cost of building two units is expected to be 407 billion crowns

"A hearing has been scheduled to consider the case, that is, the lawsuit itself. It is not yet possible to say whether the court will issue a ruling. Summonses were sent to the parties on Monday afternoon," Charvátová said.

The government had planned to sign the final agreement with KHNP on May 7. The Regional Court in Brno blocked the signing with an interim measure the previous day. Elektrárna Dukovany II (EDU II), which is responsible for the nuclear tender, challenged the interim measure before the Supreme Administrative Court, as did the tender winner. EDU II also filed a motion with the Regional Court in Brno to have the interim measure lifted.

KHNP's current offer is valid until the end of June. Harry Chang, vice president of KHNP's project department for the nuclear power plant in Czechia, told Czech Television that an extension of the offer to build the nuclear units is not certain.

The government decided to build two nuclear reactors last July. It chose KHNP's offer over that of France's EDF. Another bidder, Westinghouse, had already been eliminated from the competition. The Czech antitrust office rejected EDF's objections, and its chairman, Petr Mlsna, upheld the decision at the end of April.

Construction of new nuclear units in Czechia is expected to be the country's largest contract. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred plan to build two reactors at Dukovany is 407 billion crowns.