ČEZ said the purchase of Škoda JS, which offers nuclear servicing and engineering, would protect the company from sanctions which could have a potential impact on securing supplies for its nuclear power plants.
Škoda JS was part of the industrial giant Śkoda Plzeň, a heavy machinery company founded in 1859 by Emil Škoda, but since 2004 it has been part of OMZ, which is controlled by privately owned Gazprombank.
This put the company at risk of sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Škoda has been working with ČEZ for many years, including in the area of nuclear fuel and maintenance of the primary circuit of nuclear power plants.
The acquisition of Škoda JS also saw ČEZ increase its stake in the UJV Řež research facility, 15 km from Prague in the town of Husinec, from 52.46% to 69.85%. Engineering, procurement and construction company Škoda Praha is a subsidiary of the UJV Group.
ČEZ has six commercial reactor units at the Dukovany and Temelín nuclear sites. It is also planning to deploy new nuclear power capacity in the 2030s, both large-scale at Dukovany and small modular reactors at Temelín.