Czech Republic: The Social Democrats do not want companies from Russia and China

In Wednesday's vote on a law called Lex Dukovany, the CSSD will join those opposition parties that do not want companies from Russia and China to take part in the construction of the new Dukovany nuclear power plant unit. The first deputy chairman of the CSSD, Roman Onderka, told Aktuálně.cz that the CSSD was preparing its resolution for the law. Among other things, it calls on the government to proceed with regard to the security of the Czech Republic.

The participation of Russia and China in the tender for the construction of the new Dukovany bloc has been under discussion for many months, and the government has long promoted the participation of companies from both countries. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Trade and Transport Karel Havlíček (for YES) recently announced that Chinese companies would not allow the government to tender, but Russian companies would. Now, however, one of the governing parties, the Social Democrats, has indicated that it is against the participation of Russian companies as well.

We do not take lightly the recommendations and reports of the security forces. That is why we talked about the whole problem at the parliamentary club meeting on Tuesday, saying that we want to take a clear position on it, CSSD deputy and first vice-chairman Roman Onderka told Aktuálně.cz. He insisted that the Czech secret services had repeatedly warned against the participation of companies from non-democratic countries due to security risks.

Therefore, according to Onderka, CSSD deputies want the Chamber of Deputies to adopt a resolution during Wednesday's discussion of the carbon law, nicknamed Lex Dukovany, in which this opinion of the security forces will be mentioned. The existence of the resolution was confirmed to Aktuálně.cz by the party chairman and the Minister of the Interior, Jan Hamáček.

We think that in the law, if passed, there should be a resolution that puts the government at the heart of following the reports of the security services. And these reports should be a priority in the actual completion of Dukovan. The most important part is the security part, is the need for the Czech Republic to have a clear conscience from this point of view and not to take lightly the information of the security services, "said Onderka.

The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is fully aware of the importance of the new nuclear resource not only for the energy security of the Czech Republic, but also for the vital interests of our country. We are a member of the European Union and NATO.

The House therefore adopts the following accompanying resolution:

We ask the government to inform us immediately about all security and foreign policy parameters of the selection of a supplier for a new nuclear source and to proceed with regard to the security of the Czech Republic.

We ask the government to inform us immediately about further progress in the construction of a new nuclear power plant, including an assessment of the risks of postponing the project for energy security and for the supply of electricity to Czech households and the economy.

We call on the government to adopt without delay a clear and transparent binding procedure for setting the upper limit of the guaranteed redemption price and calculating it, including changes over time. "

The wording of our resolution is that when the government announces a tender, it will follow the views of the security services at the moment. It is not possible to do what Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlíček does when he says that it would allow one state to participate and another No. If the security forces say that this is a risk in the case of companies from two countries, then the government must take this into account and arrange itself accordingly, Onderka specified.

However, Havlíček told Aktuálně.cz on Tuesday that he did not change anything in his opinion about Dukovany. According to him, the most important thing now is for the law to pass and security issues to be addressed later.

Representatives of the Pirates and TOP 09 in the Chamber last pushed on Tuesday to postpone the vote on the carbon law by the Chamber of Deputies, but apparently failed. The chairman of the YES movement's parliamentary club, Jaroslav Faltýnek, told Aktuálně.cz that he expects Wednesday's discussion of the law and voting. That is also why MEPs did not support on Tuesday the proposal of TOP 09 MEP Helena Langšádlová to postpone this point.

Langšádlová made it clear that she did not like the views of Havlíček and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who claim that some critics of the tender are concerned with politics and not the economy. "I completely disagree with the Prime Minister's view of what is a political matter and what is not a political matter. The construction of a nuclear power plant and its suppliers is a purely political matter. Yes, it also has economic implications, but it is primarily a political matter. about whether we will let our territory be conquered here and someone in this case Russia will fly their flag here, she said.

The law is also closely monitored by environmentalists, who do not recommend its approval. Representatives of the RAINBOW Movement and the Calla Environmental Conservation Association claim that the law unilaterally and powerfully favors uncompetitive nuclear energy over other sources and thus places it outside the electricity market. According to them, its adoption will bring a higher price of electricity for consumers and a great burden on the state budget.

By approving the government's bill, parliament would lose the last chance to influence the amount and recipient of unscrupulously generous public support. The support would then only be in the hands of the government. The specific guaranteed price is to be stated only in the contract for the purchase of electricity, which can be concluded only after the entry into force of the law, "complain ecologists." Betting on nuclear energy is problematic for a number of reasons: resources, while the gap is still growing. It preserves obsolete energy based on large wasteful resources instead of developing decentralized renewable energy. It means energy dependence and safety risks on construction and fuel suppliers. Nuclear power still has no waste disposal, they argue.