A Czech court has overturned a preliminary injunction that had prohibited Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and the operator of the new Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic from signing a final contract.
According to major international news outlets, on June 4 (local time), the Czech Supreme Administrative Court issued a ruling overturning the preliminary injunction issued last month by the Brno District Court that had banned the contract.
KHNP and the ordering party, Dukovany II Nuclear Power Plant (EDU II), a subsidiary of Czech utility company CEZ, had originally planned to sign the final contract on May 7. However, the signing ceremony was canceled when the Brno District Court accepted a request for a preliminary injunction from rival French utility company EDF just one day before the scheduled signing.
The ordering party and KHNP appealed, arguing that the court had issued the injunction without hearing the opinions of other parties, and that the delay in the contract had jeopardized the overall schedule of the new nuclear power plant construction project.
With the Czech Supreme Administrative Court’s decision to overturn the injunction, the legal obstacle to the final contract has been removed for now. As the Czech government is rushing to secure a timely electricity supply by pushing forward the new nuclear power plant project, it is expected that the signing ceremony for the final contract will be resumed soon.
On the same day, KHNP stated, "We welcome the Czech Supreme Administrative Court's decision to overturn the injunction," and added, "We hope that the Czech side will proceed with the contract quickly."
Meanwhile, EDF, which was eliminated in the bidding process, has filed objections not only with the Czech courts but also with the European Union (EU), claiming that KHNP violated the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR).
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