Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has removed Czech nuclear engineering firm Škoda JS A.S. from its Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List, following the acquisition of the nuclear energy services company by Czech energy giant ČEZ.
The acquisition was made to mitigate the risk of sanctions affecting key supplies for ČEZ's nuclear power plants. Škoda JS is a leading supplier of key components and equipment for nuclear power plants, and had been owned by a Russian entity.
Škoda JS specializes in nuclear fuel and maintenance of nuclear power plant primary circuits. The company has has been involved in the construction of nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Germany over the past 60 years.
Originally a Czech company, Škoda JS was founded in 1859 by Emil Škoda as part of a larger industrial conglomerate that also included the well-known automaker of the same name. However, since around 2004, it had been a subsidiary of OMZ, a Russian engineering group controlled by Gazprombanka.
Removal of Skoda from the sanctions list is welcome news for US parnters Westinghouse Electric and Bechtel Nuclear Power. In November, Westinghouse submitted a bid with Bechtel for the construction of one AP1000 unit at the Dukovany nuclear site, with the potential for another unit there and two additional reactors at the Temelin site. Westinghouse will supply nuclear fuel to Temelin beginning next year. Westinghouse has signed memoranda of understanding with 36 Czech companies to date.
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