Czech court rejects EDF complaint over nuclear tender

A Czech court rejected Wednesday a complaint filed by French energy group EDF over a tender it lost to build two additional reactors at a Czech nuclear plant. Even if the court had ruled in EDF's favour it would not have affected the multi-billion-dollar reactor deal signed earlier this month by Prague and South Korea's KHNP, which had beaten EDF in the tender last year. However such a ruling would have allowed EDF to seek compensation. "The complaint has been rejected," Klara Belkovova, a spokeswoman for the Regional Court in the city of Brno, told AFP. She added EDF now had eight days to file an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court to contest the verdict. In the rejected complaint, EDF questioned the transparency of the tender. The Brno court already delayed the signing of the record nuclear deal with a pre-emptive ruling in May, following EDF's complaint. But a higher court dismissed that verdict on June 4 and the Czech government and KHNP signed the deal. The contract is crucial for the Czech Republic, an EU member of 10.9 million people, which relies on nuclear power from the DuWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times