Slovakia gains full control of new nuclear power plant project, ČEZ exits

Bratislava, 7 October (ČTK) – ČEZ Group today signed an agreement with Slovakia to sell its 49% stake in Jadrová energetická spoločnosť Slovenska (JESS), which is preparing to build a new nuclear power plant. The company will thus come under the full control of the Slovak state. The purchase price is 189 million euros (4.6 billion crowns). ČEZ expects the transaction to be completed in the coming days.

ČEZ Invest Slovensko, a subsidiary of ČEZ, is selling its minority stake in JESS. The shares are being bought by the state-controlled Slovak company Jadrová a vyraďovacia spoločnosť (JAVYS), which has so far held a 51% stake in JESS.

Slovakia and ČEZ established JESS in 2009, during the first government of current Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Among other things, ČEZ was tasked with providing know-how. Fico’s current government has decided that the new nuclear power plant will be state-owned.

"When we established the joint venture almost 17 years ago, our aim was to prepare the project so that Slovakia could build a nuclear power plant at Jaslovské Bohunice. The Bohunice site is currently the best-prepared location for building a nuclear power plant anywhere in Europe," said ČEZ Chairman of the Board and CEO Daniel Beneš after signing the agreement.

He said that preparations for the new plant had included approval of a feasibility study, the securing of capacity reservation certificates, a positive environmental impact assessment (EIA), a siting permit under the Atomic Act and the acquisition of land needed for the project. Proceedings for a zoning decision have also begun.

"I would like to thank ČEZ and the Czech side for their constructive cooperation. We can significantly accelerate the construction of the new nuclear power plant," Fico said.

The purchase price for ČEZ’s stake in JESS sparked a dispute between Fico and Slovakia’s Ministry of Economy, but a new valuation confirmed the original valuation of ČEZ Group’s stake in JESS. The government subsequently transferred responsibility for preparing the construction of the new nuclear power plant from the Ministry of Economy to the government commissioner for nuclear energy development and the Government Office.

According to the Slovak opposition, Fico pushed ČEZ out of the new nuclear power plant project in Slovakia so that he could make decisions about the entire investment himself. Karol Galek, an MP for the liberal Freedom and Solidarity party and a former deputy economy minister, told reporters that ČEZ had added value to the entire project.

According to earlier reports, the US company Westinghouse is expected to become Bratislava’s main partner in building the new nuclear power plant, with a capacity of around 1,200 megawatts. At Jaslovské Bohunice, Bratislava shut down two units of the older V1 nuclear power plant in 2006 and 2008 to meet its commitments to the EU. The site is also home to a nuclear power plant operated by Slovakia’s largest electricity producer, Slovenské elektrárne (SE), part of Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH).