The European Union (EU) has decided not to open an in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) regarding the construction of the new Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic. Previously, Electricite de France (EDF) had filed an objection when Team Korea, including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), was selected as the preferred bidder by the Czech government, claiming that unfair government subsidies had been injected during the bidding process.
According to KHNP on the 7th, the European Commission (EC) made a final decision on the 5th (local time) not to initiate an in-depth investigation under the FSR into the Dukovany nuclear power plant project. As a result, the ex-officio preliminary review that the EC had been conducting for 1 year and 4 months since February last year was concluded with no charges, completely resolving the 'subsidy risk', which was the biggest mountain blocking the signing of the main contract between the two countries.
The EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation is a system designed to prevent companies from non-EU countries from entering the EU internal market with excessive subsidies from their own governments and distorting competition. KHNP completely cleared the suspicions by thoroughly explaining that the Czech nuclear power plant project bidding started before the regulation was established, making it exempt from application, and that it had not received any subsidies from the government.
“This decision dispels concerns from some quarters that it was a low-priced order dependent on government support,” said Jung-kwan Kim, minister of trade, industry and energy. “The EU has directly confirmed that this is an achievement achieved by Team Korea thoroughly complying with international norms and possessing overwhelming technological prowess and project management capabilities.” Kim evaluated, “The Dukovany project is a strategic cooperation project through which both countries will foster technology and talent together for decades to come.”
The government's diplomacy for building energy and resource supply chains will also gain momentum. Kim will consecutively visit Kazakhstan, three Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates), and the Czech Republic from the 7th to the 18th.
In Kazakhstan, he will intensively coordinate plans for stabilizing crude oil supply and demand and cooperation in critical minerals and plants. Following this, he will visit three Middle Eastern countries to inspect core resource supply chains such as crude oil and LNG, and discuss customized high-tech industry cooperation that combines vast Middle Eastern capital with Korean manufacturing infrastructure.
In the Czech Republic, while checking the final progress of the new nuclear power plant project, he plans to focus on expanding comprehensive economic partnerships across high-tech industries such as robotics, batteries, and semiconductors.
