KHNP appeals Czech court order over Dukovany project

South Korean company KHNP filed an appeal on Tuesday against the court measure that blocked the signing of the final agreement to build nuclear units at the Dukovany power plant. It wants to prevent potential damage to the company. KHNP informed the Czech News Agency (ČTK) of the move today. Elektrárna Dukovany II (EDU II), which is responsible for the nuclear tender, also filed an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) in recent days. The Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), which issued the contested decision, will not file an appeal. The case will be given priority in view of its nature and significance, NSS spokeswoman Sylva Dostálová said.

The court has received both appeals and registered them under a single case number. “Basic procedural steps are currently being taken. The case file will be requested without delay, and the appeals will be sent to the parties to the dispute for comment. The judges are already familiarising themselves with the case,” Dostálová said.

The signing of the final agreement with KHNP was originally scheduled for 7 May. However, the Regional Court in Brno blocked the signing with an interim injunction the day before. It did so at the request of French company EDF, which challenged the competition authority’s decision in court. The authority had ruled that the tender was in order. The court has not yet ruled on EDF’s lawsuit.

The South Korean company announced in recent days that it was preparing an appeal. “We believe that the current situation could cause significant damage to Czech national interests as well as to KHNP, the preferred bidder,” the company said. The South Koreans also expressed confidence that the tender had been conducted properly. “We consider attempts to challenge the outcome through legal manoeuvres regrettable and, in our view, a direct attack on the principles of fair competition,” they said in an earlier statement.

EDU II filed an appeal against the court measure concerning Dukovany on Monday. “EDU II believes that the Regional Court primarily misjudged whether the public interest in signing the contract after a transparent tender lasting several years outweighs the claimant’s (EDF’s) theoretical possibility of competing for the contract,” the company said.

Martin Švanda, spokesman for the competition authority, told ČTK that ÚOHS would not appeal the interim injunction. “The authority nevertheless expects to submit its comments on the contracting authority’s appeal to the NSS. It also intends to urge the Regional Court in Brno to give priority to hearing EDF’s lawsuit,” Švanda said.

The government decided to build two new nuclear reactors last July. It preferred the bid from South Korea’s KHNP over the one from France’s EDF. Another bidder, Westinghouse, had already been excluded from the tender. The construction of new nuclear units in Czechia is set to be the country’s largest-ever contract. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred plan to build two reactors at Dukovany is 407 billion korunas.