The Cabinet of Ministers of the Czech Republic decided to exclude the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom from the list of candidates who can participate in the tender for the construction of a new power unit of the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the republic. This was announced on Monday, April 19, by the head of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade Karel Havlicek.
According to him, three firms remain among the candidates for participation in the tender, including the American Westinghouse, the French EdF and the South Korean KHNP.
“The Russian firm Rosatom will not participate in the tender in light of the new information known,” Gavlicek said at a briefing that was broadcast on its website by Lydovky.cz.
The fact that the Czech Republic intends to exclude Rosatom from the list of candidates for participation in the tender Gavlicek announced earlier on the same day. According to him, the Russian corporation will not be able to participate in the tender as a subcontractor either.
In addition, the Czech newspaper Pravo reported that the republic linked the explosion at the weapons depot in Vrbetica in 2014 with the actions of Russian intelligence. Allegedly, in this way, the Russian side obstructed the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
Information that Russia and China may be barred from participating in the tender for the construction of a new power unit at the Dukovany NPP also appeared in the spring of last year.
Then it was reported that the Russian Federation and the PRC may be excluded from participation in the tender on the basis of a certain “secret document” approved by the government of the republic on April 27, 2020. Thus, the document does not allow the construction of companies that, according to Prague, pose a strategic threat to the national security of the country. The source of the portal admits that developers from Russia and China can be recognized as such.
Construction of the new power unit should begin in 2029 and end in 2036. The tender is estimated at 140-160 billion kroons (about $ 5.9-6.4 billion). The new power unit will replace one of the four existing ones, the rest should work until 2045–2047.