ČEZ says Temelín tender continues after Areva's exclusion

Prague, Oct 30 (CTK) - The Czech energy group CEZ is not considering suspension of a tender to complete the nuclear power plant Temelin, CEZ spokesman Ladislav Kriz told CTK yesterday.

French company Areva, which was disqualified from the tender, wants CEZ to suspend the tender process.

Areva plans to file an appeal against CEZ's decision with the Czech antitrust office (UOHS).

CEZ excluded Areva from the tender on October 5 saying its bid suffered from commercial and legal shortcomings. Areva filed objections to the decision on October 19.

On Monday after analysing Areva's reasons, CEZ did not meet the objections of the French company.

The US-Japanese company Westinghouse and the Czech-Russian consortium MIR.1200, which includes Skoda JS and Russia's Atomstroyexport and Gidropress, stay in the bidding for the tender to build units three and four at Temelin.

MIR.1200 has received several dozen querries from CEZ regarding some details of its bid, Skoda JS representative Miloslav Provod told CTK yesterday. The queries are aimed at clarifying certain details and should not lead to an exclusion of the consortium from the tender, Provod said.

Areva said in a statement it is confident that its offer meets all legal requirements. It wants to use all legal tools for its return to the tender, the first step being an appeal with the UOHS.

"CEZ is not mulling a suspension of the tender, nor is it authorised by law to do that," Kriz said.

"By law CEZ has settled the objections," he said, adding that now Areva is turning to the UOHS which has the sole authority to issue an injunction that could lead to suspending of the tender. Kriz said earlier that CEZ would not disclose or comment on the reasons that led to the exclusion of a bidder guided by the correctness of the tender process.

Referring to CEZ's sources, the Czech daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported earlier that Areva's bid failed to guarantee a fixed price of the supply and sometimes ignored the Czech atomic law.

The cost of Temelin's completion is estimated at Kc200-300bn. The two units are to be completed in 2025 at the latest. The winner of the tender will be picked next year.

Areva was the sole bidder for Temelin's expansion from the European Union. It says it is the world's biggest supplier of nuclear reactors. Since the 1970s it has built or currently is in the process of building of 102 reactors in 11 countries across the world, 91 of them being still in operation.

Areva has 48,000 employees. It has plants in 40 countries and business representation in another 100 countries. Jan-Sept consolidated profit reached EUR6.542bn, an annual hike of 10 percent.