Reacting to a lawsuit filed by France’s EDF, a Czech court has prevented national utility CEZ from signing an $18bn contract today with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) to build two 1GW units at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, Czech news site E15 reports.
Last July, CEZ chose a consortium made up of KHNP, Doosan Enerbility and Daewoo E&C, to build the new units over rival offers from France’s EDF and US engineer Westinghouse.
It would be the largest construction project in Czech history, and KHNP’s first in Europe.
EDF had lodged an appeal over the decision with the Czech competition regulator UOHS.
UOHS rejected its appeal last week, which cleared the way for the Czech government to sign the contract with KHNP today, but EDF went on to file a lawsuit with the Brno Regional Court.
The court decided in favour of EDF, saying: “If the contract were concluded, the French bidder would lose the possibility of winning the public contract, even if the court rules in its favour in litigation.”
The court’s ruling can itself be appealed, and CEZ said it was likely to apply to the Supreme Administrative Court in Prague.
Tender criteria
The concerned parties made statements in the aftermath of the court’s decision.
Petr Fial, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, said he hoped that the tender had been fair and that the Supreme Court would rule quickly.
CEZ said KHNP’s offer had beaten EDF’s in most of the tender criteria, and that it would seek damages if the courts eventually ruled in favour of its selection.
EDF and KHNP said yesterday they would use all legal means to defend their interests.
EDF said the interim measure would provide time to assess possible infringement of its rights, and that it was also taking up the matter with the European Commission.
KHNP said the tender had been fair and transparent and that it reserved the right to take its own legal steps. “The attempt to challenge the result through legal manoeuvres is regrettable and represents a direct attack on the principles of fair competition,” it said.
Meanwhile, UOHS said it stood by its decision to throw out EDF’s complaint. It said the Brno court had merely made a procedural decision, and its decision to block did not reflect on the merits of the case.
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