South Korea’s KHNP succeeded in the Czech nuclear tender last year to construct new nuclear units in Dukovany.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) has rejected a proposal by the opposition ANO movement to leave the signing of the contract to the next cabinet. The contract with KHNP was expected to be signed by the end of March, although negotiations are taking longer than anticipated.

The room for negotiations surrounds how much involved will Czech companies be. The ultimate goal is to achieve a guarantee of 30% involvement of the Czech industry and to clearly define the way to achieve the desired result of 60% share of domestic companies in the construction before the final contract is signed.

Earlier this month it was said that around 18% of production in Czechia has been secured, however the government should continue patiently negotiating until it reaches at least 50%.

The Czech Energy Alliance, which represents domestic suppliers, said the Czech industry has been ready for intensive work to secure the agreements since July last year. "The current state of affairs, where we are still at the beginning of negotiations, is unfortunately a reflection of more than eight months of inaction by the preferred supplier in this area,”said Josef Perlík, Executive Director of the Alliance.According to him, the possible postponement of the signing of the contract is a logical consequence of the current situation.

Source: Forbes
Prepared by the team of foreign office CzechTrade South Korea (Seoul)