Anchor: A 26 trillion won deal that the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power(KHNP) was planning on signing with the Czech Republic on Wednesday has hit a major snag after a Czech court blocked it in the eleventh hour. South Korea’s government has vowed to finalize the accord in close cooperation with Prague. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: The Czech Republic’s Brno Regional Court blocked the country’s energy company from signing a final agreement worth about 19 billion U.S. dollars with the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power(KHNP) to build two nuclear reactors in the European country.

The court issued the preemptive ruling Tuesday, a day before KHNP was scheduled to sign the contract with Elektrárna Dukovany II, a subsidiary of the Czech Republic’s main electricity firm, CEZ, at a ceremony in Prague.
 
The court granted an injunction requested by the losing bidder, France’s EDF, imposing a delay until a ruling on EDF’s complaint regarding the deal.

It accepted EDF’s claim that if the deal were signed, the French bidder would permanently lose its chance to compete for the contract even if the court ruled in its favor later on.

KHNP won the contract in July last year after beating EDF in the tender, but EDF filed a complaint last week against the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition after the regulator rejected its appeal in the case.

In Seoul, acting President Lee Ju-ho vowed to communicate closely with the Czech Republic to finalize the deal while Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun said, upon arriving in Prague, that despite unforeseen circumstances, the government will promptly finalize the deal with the Czech Republic.

Ahn said it is only the formal contract signing that has been postponed due to the court ruling, adding that all the other steps will proceed as scheduled.

While saying it respects the court’s decision and will observe related regulations, the KHNP stressed that the bidding process for the power plant deal was conducted in a fair, transparent and legal manner.

The CEZ is set to disclose its stance on the court decision in a news conference later on Wednesday. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.