SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� South Korean officials on Wednesday downplayed to put on hold an $18 billion project for South Korea to build two nuclear reactors in the country, describing it as a temporary setback and expressing confidence that the deal will eventually proceed.
A South Korean consortium led by the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power had expected to finalize the deal this week with a subsidiary of CEZ, . However, a Czech court blocked CEZ from signing the contract while it reviews a complaint from French company EDF, which lost the bid to the South Koreans.
South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Dukgeun told reporters in Prague that the court鈥檚 decision would only delay the signing of the official contract, and that all other procedures would proceed on schedule, assuming that the deal goes through. He said that the Czech government clearly didn't anticipate the court鈥檚 decision to pause the agreement, and that CEZ plans to appeal.
It is not clear when the Czech Supreme Administrative Court could rule on that appeal.
鈥淭he Czech government did not think of (EDF鈥檚 claims) as a major problem and invited us for the scheduled鈥� signing ceremony, Ahn said. 鈥淚t seems that the Czech government鈥檚 judgement did not align with the court鈥檚 ruling.鈥�
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday his government respects the court鈥檚 decision, before adding: 鈥淚 believe that the judges and the court realize how important this decision is and its impact on security of the Czech Republic and our national interests.鈥�
Lee Ju-Ho, South Korea's acting president, said that Seoul would communicate closely with the Czech side to ensure that the deal is finalized quickly.
In July, CEZ selected KHNP over EDF as the preferred bidder to build two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at the Dukovany plant. EDF filed a court complaint last week after the Czech Republic鈥檚 competition regulator rejected its appeal over the bidding process.
Before he was ousted last month over an ill-fated martial law imposition in December, former conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had pledged to boost the country鈥檚 nuclear power exports, arguing that they had suffered under the previous liberal government鈥檚 push to reduce domestic reliance on nuclear energy. Yoon鈥檚 government had set a goal of exporting 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030.
The Associated Press
