Daewoo E&C: "Ministry Should Mediate After Czech Nuclear Talks Collapse"

"No construction company would accept the terms proposed by KHNP"

Daewoo E&C said on November 2 that it had asked the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to mediate renewed contract negotiations after talks with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) over a contract for a new nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic ended. The company said the differences between the construction contractor and the prime contractor had grown so wide that negotiations were unilaterally brought to a close, and asked the ministry in charge to review and coordinate the matter directly.

In a statement released that day, Daewoo E&C said, "We are asking the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to mediate renewed contract negotiations so that the new nuclear power plant construction project in the Czech Republic can be put back on track as soon as possible." KHNP had notified the company on October 30 that it was ending negotiations, citing major differences of opinion, including that the revised proposal submitted by the Daewoo E&C consortium did not reflect the prime contractor's requests.

A view of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant. Courtesy of Daewoo E&C.

Daewoo E&C argued, "It is unreasonable to require a construction contractor that is not responsible for the design to accept a substantial increase in construction work without any change to the construction costs, and to bear the cost of additional work added after the bid without any cost adjustment." It added, "The structure leaves the construction contractor to bear the full risk of building the APR1000, a new reactor design being built for the first time anywhere in the world, in a new market."

Daewoo E&C said it had submitted a revised proposal, but KHNP declared the negotiations over unilaterally just 30 minutes later. It also argued that ending the talks unilaterally was unreasonable, as it had received the terms—which it said could threaten the company's survival—on October 7 and had insufficient time to review them. The company also stressed that it had invested tens of billions of won in preliminary preparations since the main contract between the client and the prime contractor was signed in June 2025, even though it had yet to sign a construction contract.

Daewoo E&C said, "Even if a bid is held early next year to select a new construction contractor, it will be difficult to find a company willing to accept the same risks as those presented to the Daewoo E&C consortium." It added, "If the bid is unsuccessful, it could delay the entire project schedule, undermining a key competitive advantage of our nuclear power industry and putting the country's competitiveness at risk."

Daewoo E&C added, "We ask the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to review the construction consortium's final proposal and mediate renewed contract negotiations." It said, "Mediation of renewed negotiations would help reduce the risks our country would have to bear and reassure the Czech client."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.