The European Commission has asked the Czech Republic to postpone signing a contract with South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) worth at least $18bn (€16.9bn) to build new nuclear power plants as it investigates the use of foreign subsidies, a commission spokesperson said on 12 May, according to Reuters.

The spokesperson said that commissioner for industrial strategy Stephane Séjourné had written a letter in which she expressed concerns related to the rules of foreign subsidies regulation regarding the South Korean bid.

“We are not at the stage where we are opening an in-depth investigation, and I would not pre-judge if we are going there or not,” the spokesperson said.

Czech news agency CTK quoted Czech prime minister Petr Fiala as saying that while the letter was from the commissioner, it did not represent the commission’s official position and had no binding effect.